no 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES 


FIRST  DUKE   OF  WELLINGTON 


X^-^^--^^*^  ^J/^ 


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PEESOI^AL   EEMINISOENOES 


OF    THE 


FIRST  DUKE  OF  WELLINGTON 


WITH  SKETCHES   OF 
SOME  OF  HIS   GUESTS   AND  CONTEMPORARIES 


BY 

THE    LATE 

GEOKGE    ROBERT    GLEIG,   M.A. 

CHAPLAIN-GENERAL  TO  HER  MAJESTY'S  FORCES,    ETC.,    ETC. 
AUTHOR   OF   'the   subaltern' 


EDITED    BY 

HIS    DAUGHTER 

MARY     E.     GLEIG 


NEW     YORK 

CHARLES     SCRIBNEK'S     SONS 

153-157  FIFTH   AVENUE 
1904 


Ali  Rights  reserved 


DEDICATION, 


DEAR  DUKE  OF  WELLINGTON, 

It  is  with  the  greatest  pleasure 
that,  with  your  permission,  I  dedicate  to  you  my 
fathers  reminiscences  of  the  intim^acy  ivith  ivhich 
your  illustrious  grandfather  honoured  him. 

Jliey  were  written  ivhen  m,y  father  s  mind  ivas 
as  clear  and  his  pen  as  vigorous  as  at  any  period 
of  his  life,  although  he  ivas  verging  upon  his 
ninetieth  year;  and  they  are  published  noiv  as 
they  were  written,  with  the  exception  of  one  or  two 
sentences  and  certain  names  which  it  aj)peared 
desirable  to  suppress. 

That  you  have  been  so  hind  as  to  read  the  proofs 
and  give  me  your  opinion  on  some  points  on  ivhich 
I  greatly  felt  the  need  of  helj),  affords  me  a  very 


VI 

coiifident  liope  that  lohat  it  ivas  such  a  labour  of 
love  to  my  father  to  record,  and  to  myself  to  edit, 
ivill  2^'i'ove  not  unacceptable  to  the  general  public. 

Tlie  only  directions  left  by  my  father  ivere  that 
his  reminiscences  were  not  to  see  the  light  for 
several  years — Eighteen  have  noiv  elapsed  since  he 
began  to  ivHte  these. 

With  many  thanks  for  the  trouble  and  interest 
you  have  taken  in  the  book, 

Believe  me, 

DEAR  DUKE  OE  WELLINGTON, 
Sincerely  yours, 

MARY  E.   GLEIG. 


HAMPTOJV  COURT  PALACE, 
April  1904. 


CONTENTS. 


IXTRODUCTION. 

PAGE 

His  military  genius — As  a  party  leader — Dislike  of  domestic 
politics — Admiration  of  the  old  constitution — His  relations 
with  his  colleagues — Eoman  Catholic  Relief  Act — Mistakes 
in  policy  .......         1 


BOOK   I. 
CONFIDENCES. 


CHAPTER    I. 

With  the  Peninsular  Army — Introduction  through  '  The  Sub- 
altern ' — A  projected  biography — Sir  Thomas  Munro — First 
visit  to  Walmei' — Offer  of  a  Crown-living      .  .  .19 


CHAPTER    II. 

Agricultural  distress  in  1830 — Machine-breaking  at  Ash — In- 
cendiarism at  Ash — The  Duke  and  Sir  Robert  Peel — The 
Duke  and  Palmerston — The  Duke  and  Huskisson     .  .       32 


CHAPTER    III. 
Political  situation,  1830— Fall  of  the  Duke's  Administration     .       45 


VIU  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTEIt    IV. 

Pai-liamentary  reform — The  Reform  Bill — Passage  of  the  Bill — 
A  scheme  for  a  newspaper  campaign — The  Duke's  contempt 
for  the  Press — His  fear  of  reform — A  suggested  compromise 
— The  Duke's  answer  .  .  .  .  .  .50 


CHAPTEE    V. 

The  dissolution  of  1831 — The  Duke  on  the  crisis — Sir  Edward 
KnatchbuU — The  military  and  politics — The  House  of 
Lords  and  the  Bill — A  confidential  letter — Question  of 
petitions  .  .  .  .  .  .  .71 

CHAPTEK    VI. 

A  suggestion  from  'Blackwood' — The  Duke's  confidence — 
'The  Morning  Herald'  —  The  Duke  threatened  —  Lord 
Harrowby — Lord  Douro — The  Duke  on  George  IV. — Dinner 
table-talk  .......      93 


CHAPTER    VII. 

Lord  John  Russell's  offer — A  personal  explanation — The  in- 
cident closed— Farewell  to  Ash — End  of  "  confidences  "        .     110 


BOOK   II. 

OF  THE   DUKE'S   PLACES  OF   RESIDENCE,   AND 
SOME   OF  THOSE   WHO   VISITED   HIM. 

CHAPTER    I. 

The  nation's  gift  —  Stratfieldsaye  —  The  Rector  of  Strat- 
fieldsaye — The  Curate  of  Stratfieldsaye — A  case  of  plu- 
ralities— Walmer  Castle — The  Cinque  Ports — His  life  at 
Walmer  .  .  .  .  .  .  .123 


CONTENTS.  IX 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE    duke's    foreign    QUESTS. 

Talleyrand — The  Duchess  of  Cumberland — The  blind  King  of 
Hanover — Prussia  and  Hanover — General  Alava — General 
Nugent— The  Duke's  little  joke  .  .  .  .141 


CHAPTER    lir. 

THE    duke's    guests "  DII    MAJORUM    GENTIUM." 

Lord  Lyndhurst — Sir  Robert  Peel  ....     161 

CHAPTER     IV. 

"  DII    MINOUUM    GENTIUM." 

Charles  Arbuthnot — Mrs  Arbuthnot — John  Wilson  Croker — 

Lord  Clanwilliam — The  Marquis  of  Salisbury  .  .198 

CHAPTER    V. 

"  DII  MiNORUM  GENTIUM  " — Continued. 

"Dirty"  Charlie— Sir  Robert  Wilson  — "  Billy  "  Holmes— 
"Chin  Grant" — Lord  Carrington — Billy  Holmes'  joke — 
Lady  Stanhope  .  .  .  .  .  .251 

BOOK    III. 
THE   DUKE   IN   HIS   DOMESTIC  EELATIONS. 

CHAPTER   I. 

Lady  Catharine  Pakenham — The  Duchess  of  Wellington — An 

unfounded  belief — Students'  escapade — The  Duke's  sons      .     271 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    ir. 

SOME    OF    THE    DUKE's    SPECIAL    CHARACTERISTICS. 

His  love  of  music — His  love  of  hunting — A  memorable  drive 
— Major  Todd — Colonel  Gurwood — Lord  Charles  Wellesley 
— Chancellor  of  Oxford  University — His  aristocratic  views 
—  Relations  with  the  army  —  His  temper — As  army  re- 
former— Opposed  to  short  service — Ambassador  in  Paris 
— His  view  of  Napoleon — And  of  Marlborough — The  Gov- 
ernment of  the  Regency — His  aid  to  Napier — A  character- 
istic trait — His  secretiveness — His  self-possession — His 
gentleness — His  good  fortune  in  battle — His  memory — A 
stickler  for  etiquette — His  views  on  army  education — His 
last  years — The  aged  warrior — The  Baroness  Burdett- 
Coutts— Epileptic  fits— His  death      .  .  .  .282 


APPENDIX. 

Memorandum  on  the  War  in  Russia  in  1812  .  .    344 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES  OF  THE 
FIRST  DUKE  OF  WELLINGTON 

INTRODUCTION 

It  is  not  my  purpose  in  the  following  pages  to 
speak  of  the  Duke  at  length  as  either  a  soldier  or  a 
statesman.  In  both  capacities  the  world  has  judged 
him  very  fairly.  I  don't  think  the  continental 
writers  do  his  genius  as  a  military  commander  full 
justice,  nor  can  we  be  surprised  at  the  circumstance. 
Their  military  systems  are  so  different  from  ours 
that  they  cannot  see  the  force  of  events  which  con- 
strained him  in  making  war  to  exercise  the  quality 
of  prudence  to  an  extent  which  would  have  been  in 
the  case  of  some  of  their  leaders  quite  blameworthy. 
They  forget  that  while  they  raise  their  armies  by 
conscription,  we  depend  for  recruits  on  voluntary 
enlistment,  and  that  the  loss  of  a  few  thousand 
men  in  a  battle,  even  if  it  went  in  his  favour,  might 
cripple  a  British  general  throughout  the  remainder 
of  the  campaign.  In  his  Indian  wars,  when  no  such 
incubus  lay  upon  him,  the  Duke  exhibited  as  much 
of  dash  as  the  most  apt  scholar  in  the  school  of 
Napoleon   could   desire.      But   when    he    came    to 

A 


2         REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

operate  against  the  French,  in  the  Peninsula,  he 
soon  found  that  caution  was  more  necessary  than 
enterprise,  because  the  Spaniards  were  worthless 
except  in  guerilla  warfare,  and  hardly  to  the  last 
could  the  Portuguese  be  relied  upon.  Hence  thirty 
thousand  or  forty  thousand  British  troops — and  he 
never  but  once  had  more  than  forty  thousand  in 
hand — were  the  backbone  of  his  strength,  and  he 
was  obliged  to  nurse  and  spare  them,  because  of 
the  difi&culty  of  supplying  the  places  of  such  as 
might  be  destroyed.  Napoleon  fully  understood 
this,  for  among  his  instructions  to  his  marshals  in 
Spain  one  was  frequently  repeated  :  "  Force  Well- 
ington to  fight  on  every  possible  occasion.  Win  if 
you  can,  but  lose  a  battle  rather  than  deliver  none. 
We  can  afford  to  expend  three  men  for  every  one  he 
loses,  and  you  will  thus  wear  him  out  in  the  end." 

Was  not  this  President  Lincoln's  policy  during 
the  great  Civil  War  in  America  :  "  Peg  away,  and 
wear  them  out"  ?  I  have  heard  that  the  Duke  was 
taken  to  a  phrenologist  on  a  certain  occasion,  who 
examined  his  head,  and  not  knowing  who  was 
under  his  fingers,  pronounced  that  he  had  never 
found  before  in  man  so  large  a  development  of 
the  organ  of  caution. 

The  Duke's  military  excellence  was  the  veritable 
inspiration  of  genius.  He  had  received  no  scientific, 
scarcely  any  tactical  education,  but  he  possessed  a 
wonderful  power  of  grasping  quickly  whatever  pro- 
blem was  submitted  to  him — a  marvellous  eye  for 


HIS   MILITARY   GENIUS  3 

country,  and  an  extraordinary  faculty  for  calcula- 
tion. He  served  with  both  the  infantry  and  the 
cavalry  as  a  regimental  officer,  yet  scarcely  long 
enough  with  either  to  acquire  by  process  of  routine 
what  ordinary  men  take  in  after  constant  practice. 
In  spite  of  this  drawback,  however,  caused  by  his 
serving  a  good  deal  on  the  staff,  he  proved,  when 
put  in  command  of  the  33rd  Regiment,  one  of 
the  best  drills,  and  most  efficient  commanding- 
officers  in  the  Army.  He  knew  likewise  as  if  by 
intuition  what  men  could  both  dare  and  do,  how 
much  they  could  endure  of  privations  and  fatigue, 
and  never,  except  in  the  last  extremity,  overworked 
his  troops.  Even  the  retreat  from  Burgos,  though 
it  called  forth  loud  complaints  both  in  and  out  of 
the  Army,  was  conducted  without  excessive  suffer- 
ing. I  was  much  struck  with  his  criticisms  on 
various  military  commanders,  both  domestic  and 
foreign,  especially  with  reference  to  what  they  lost 
for  lack  of  well  considering  these  points.  To  Sir 
John  Moore,  for  example,  he  gave  full  credit  for 
talent  as  well  as  bravery  :  "  but  his  defect  was,  that 
he  did  not  know  what  his  men  could  do."  He 
thought  highly  of  the  Archduke  Charles  of  Austria, 
both  as  a  leader  of  armies  and  a  military  writer ; 
"  but,"  speaking  of  him  in  the  latter  capacity,  he 
added,  "he  forgot  that  men  are  not  mere  machines, 
one  as  good  as  another,  and  that  a  plan  of  action 
which  would  be  perfectly  justifiable  in  an  officer 
commanding  English  troops,  might  be  the  reverse 


4         REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

in  one  commanding  Austrians  or  Prussians." 
Jomini's  great  work  he  had  by  heart,  but  he  criti- 
cised it,  just  as  he  did  the  Archduke  Charles. 
"  The  theory  is  correct  throughout  except  on  an 
important  point  in  tactics.  His  preference  of 
columns  of  attack,  to  lines,  is  a  great  error.  Columns 
cannot  fight,  they  are  only  formations  of  manoeuvre. 
But  excellent  as  his  strategical  lessons  may  be,  the 
commander  of  an  army  who  considers  himself  bound 
to  adhere  strictly  to  the  principles  there  laid  down 
may  find  himself  beaten  by  a  less  learned  and 
more  enterprising  opponent."  What  he  thought  of 
Napoleon  will  be  told  by  and  by. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  he,  who,  at  mature  age, 
earned  so  proud  a  name,  both  as  a  leader  of  Armies 
and  a  Statesman,  should  have  been  in  boyhood 
remarkable  for  his  indolence.  A  letter  from  his 
mother.  Lady  Mornington,  still  exists,  in  which, 
speaking  of  her  sons,  she  says  :  "  They  are  all, 
I  think,  endowed  with  excellent  abilities  except 
Arthur,  and  he  would  probably  not  be  wanting,  if 
only  there  was  more  of  energy  in  his  nature ;  but 
he  is  so  wanting  in  this  respect,  that  I  really  do  not 
know  what  to  do  with  him."  That  his  first  start  in 
life  bore  out  Lady  Mornington's  appreciation  of  his 
temperament  there  can  be  no  doubt.  He  made  no 
figure  at  Eton,  and  seems  to  have  been  as  little 
conspicuous  at  Angers.^     And  even  after  joining  the 

^  "  I  should  be  glad,  if  I  possessed  the  requisite  information,  to  give 
some  account  of  the  Duke's  manner  of  life  while  a  pupil  in  the  military 


AS    A    PARTY    LEADER  5 

Army  and  becoming  aide-de-camp  to  the  Lord- 
Lieutenant  of  Ireland,  he  appears  to  have  lived  a 
rather  dreamy  and  solitary  life.  Doubtless  it  was 
for  this  reason  that  he  never  of  his  own  accord 
alluded  in  conversation  to  his  schoolboy  days, 
and  always,  if  by  chance  a  reference  happened  to 
be  made  to  them,  changed  the  subject.  Yet  how 
entirely  those  were  mistaken,  who  anticipated  for 
the  indolent  boy  an  obscure  manhood,  the  lapse  of 
a  few  years  made  manifest. 

As  a  constitutional  politician,  meaning  thereby  a 
skilful  party  leader  in  a  free  state,  the  Duke  cannot 
be  placed  in  the  foremost  rank.  He  had  grown 
up  under  the  shadow  of  the  first  French  Revolution, 
and  entertained  an  exaggerated  dread  of  the  Demo- 
cracy. Yet  his  perceptions  of  what  was  best  for 
Europe  and  for  England  at  the  close  of  the  great 
war  were  clear  and  just.  He  deprecated  and 
prevented  the  dismemberment  of  France  in  1815, 
because  he  foresaw  that  such  a  measure,  while  it 
weakened  one  Power,  might  lead  to  endless  complica- 

school  at  Angers.  If  any  memorials  of  him  were  ever  established 
there,  the  avalanche  of  the  first  French  Revolution  must  have  swept 
them  all  away.  But  none  would  appear  to  have  been  set  up.  His 
early  friends,  of  whom  not  one  now  survives,  used  indeed  to  say  that 
he  made  better  use  of  his  time  at  Angers  than  he  had  done  either  at 
Chelsea  or  Eton,  and  he  himself  stated  that  he  formed  some  agreeable 
ac(iuaintances  in  the  neighbourhood,  from  whom  he  learned  to  speak 
French  with  the  accent  and  precision  of  the  days  of  the  old  monarchy. 
But  here  our  materials  for  narrative  fail  us.  We  know  nothing  more 
than  that  he  pursued  his  studies  at  Angers  for  about  a  year  and  a  half 
or  two  years,  and  then  returned  home." — 'The  Life  of  Arthur,  Ihike  of 
Wellington,  by  O.  R.  Oleig. 


6         REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

tions  among  the  rest.  He  regarded  Russia  with 
great  suspicion,  which  subsequent  events  have  shown 
to  be  well  founded.  He  would  have  been  glad  to 
see  parliamentary  institutions  introduced  into  Spain 
and  Portugal,  but  entirely  disapproved  of  England 
going  to  war  in  order  to  force  them  upon  these 
countries.  Of  the  breach  of  their  promises  to  their 
subjects  by  the  continental  sovereigns  he  always 
spoke  with  regret  and  censure,  but  he  had  no 
sympathy  with  secret  societies  or  popular  insurrec- 
tions. He  was  anxious  to  avoid  all  interference  in 
the  quarrel  between  the  Spanish  American  Colonies 
and  the  mother  country,  except  so  far  as  this  must  be 
done  by  recognising  for  commercial  purposes  the  de 
facto  government  in  each.  In  a  word,  his  view  of 
the  policy  of  England  in  her  relations  with  foreign 
states  was  in  substance  this  :  that  she  should  stand 
aloof  from  the  intestine  strifes  of  all,  taking  no  part 
either  with  the  sovereigns  against  the  peoples  or 
with  the  peoples  against  the  sovereigns  except 
when  invited  to  mediate  :  and  then  doing  what  was 
possible  to  bring  about  an  equitable  compromise. 
He  would  neither  join  the  Holy  Alliance,  nor 
give  the  smallest  countenance  to  Carbonarism  or 
Freemasonry. 

The  Duke  was  dragged  against  his  will  into 
taking  a  prominent  part  in  domestic  politics.  He 
detested  them,  not  only  because  the  whole  course 
of  his  active  life  had  carried  him,  so  to  speak,  out- 
side their  sphere,  but  because  the  shifts  and  devices, 


DISLIKE    OF    DOMESTIC    POLITICS  7 

not  always  either  creditable  or  honest,  to  which 
party  leaders  are  driven,  were  to  him  peculiarly 
distasteful.  It  was  Canning's  readiness  to  fall  back 
upon  these,  whenever  he  had  a  point  to  carry,  and 
his  consequent  coquetting  with  the  leaders  of  the 
Opposition,  which  quite  as  much  as  his  strong 
personal  ambition  alienated  the  Duke  from  him. 
No  doubt  these  peculiarities  of  temperament  were 
the  main  cause  of  the  serious  mistakes  into  which  as 
Prime  Minister  he  fell.  Yet  it  is  impossible  not  to 
recognise  the  beauty  of  those  moral  qualities  which, 
worthy  of  all  admiration  in  the  man,  rendered  him 
incapable  of  ever  becoming  the  successful  adminis- 
trator of  the  affairs  of  a  country  jealous  of  its 
liberties,  and  prone,  as  all  popularly  governed 
countries  are,  to  be  cajoled  into  clamouring  for 
whatever  adroit  flatterers  lead  them  to  regard  as 
conducive  to  their  welfare. 

Strange  as  it  may  appear  and  unpleasant  as 
the  statement  may  be  to  read,  the  Duke  as  a 
politician  held  in  contempt  what  is  called  prin- 
ciple. His  theory  was  that  the  obvious  needs  of 
the  times  and  of  the  nation  suggest  the  co\irse 
which,  from  year  to  year,  the  Government  ought  to 
follow.  The  settlement  of  1688  he  held  in  high 
respect  because  the  civil  and  religious  liberties  of 
the  people  were  assured  by  it,  but  he  no  more 
considered  it  to  be  the  duty  of  statesmen  to  main- 
tain it  to  the  letter  in  secula  seculorum,  than  it  was 
their  duty  to  resist  the  repeal  of  any  law  which 


8         REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

had  become  obsolete  and  therefore  mischievous. 
This  was  shown  in  rather  a  curious  way  after 
dinner  one  day,  as  early  I  think  as  1824,  at  which 
among  other  guests  two  clergymen  were  present. 
The  incident,  as  related  to  me  by  his  son,  the  late 
Duke,  occurred  at  Strathfieldsaye,  when  a  lady 
asked  him  what  he  thought  of  the  laws  affecting 
Koman  Catholics.  He  replied  almost  in  these 
words  :  "  The  laws  against  Roman  Catholics  were 
passed  at  a  time  when  the  Protestant  Church  of 
England  stood  in  need  of  protection.  Whenever 
the  Protestant  Church  is  strong  enough  to  stand 
without  them,  they  will  be  repealed,  and  ought 
to  be  repealed." 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Duke  had  a  perfect 
horror  of  everything  that  savoured  of  bad  faith 
between  man  and  man  sitting  in  the  same  Cabinet. 
Canning,  as  has  just  been  shown,  he  always  dis- 
trusted, not  only  because  of  his  backstairs  connec- 
tion with  the  Whigs,  but  also  on  account  of  a 
shifty  method  which  he  had  of  conducting  the 
correspondence  of  the  Foreign  Office.  Some  one 
happened  to  speak  in  his  presence  of  Canning  as 
obstinate  and  unyielding.  "  Unyielding!  "  was  the 
Duke's  answer.  "  I  never  knew  a  public  man  so 
pliable.  We  saw  all  the  drafts  of  his  more  impor- 
tant letters,  of  course,  and  made  our  remarks  on 
them.  He  never  took  oflPence,  but  on  the  contrary 
expressed  himself  obliged  by  the  pains  that  were 
taken  to  improve  them  ;  yet  it  invariably  happened, 


ADMIRATION    OF   THE    OLD    CONSTITUTION  9 

somehow  or  another,  that  when  sealed  and  sent  off, 
they  reiterated  almost  all  the  sentiments  to  which 
we  had  objected.  The  fact  is,  that  while  the  anno- 
tated copy  passed  into  the  archives  of  the  Foreign 
Office,  the  finished  production  expressed,  though 
in  somewhat  different  language.  Canning's  own 
views  just  as  he  had  originally  submitted  them  to 
us.  Canning  might  be  obstinate,  but  he  was 
certainly  not  unyielding." 

When  I  speak  of  the  Duke  as  holding  light  what 
Lord  Eldon,  and  statesmen  of  his  class,  regarded  as 
principle,  I  refer  only  to  political  arrangements 
which,  however  suitable  they  may  have  been  to  the 
condition  of  the  country  when  entered  into,  made 
it  next  to  impossible,  under  a  total  change  of 
circumstances,  to  carry  on  the  Government.  The 
settlement  of  the  Crown  in  the  Protestant  line  he 
held  to  be  essential  to  the  maintenance  of  a  Pro- 
testant Constitution.  Penal  laws,  which  excluded 
from  Parliament,  and  from  holding  office  under 
the  Crown,  Romanists  and  Dissenters  from  the 
Established  Church,  he  regarded  as  evils  which, 
as  soon  as  they  ceased  to  be  necessary,  ought 
to  be  got  rid  of.  The  case  was  otherwise  with 
regard  to  arrangements  on  which  the  very  con- 
stitution of  society,  according  to  his  view  of  the 
matter,  depended.  England  was  the  happiest  and 
most  prosperous  nation  in  the  world  because  all 
real  power  was  vested  in  the  aristocracy.  Hence 
his  admiration  of  the  old  constitution  as  it  existed 


10       REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

prior  to  the  first  Reform  Act.  Hence  his  partiahty 
for  the  Corn  Laws,  without  which  he  did  not  see 
how  the  great  landed  proprietors  would  be  able  to 
hold  their  own  against  a  powerful  democracy. 
But  apart  from  this  one  point,  the  Duke  was  a  free 
trader,  long  before  either  Huskisson  or  Peel  began 
their  attacks  on  the  system  of  protection  to  British 
industry. 

Holding  these  views,  and  actuated  by  the  same 
high  motives  which  carried  Falkland  into  the  royal 
camp  in  1642,  the  Duke  took  office,  with  a  mind 
fully  made  up  to  conduct  the  Government  for 
the  sake  not  of  party  but  of  the  country.  It 
has  been  charged  against  him  and  not  without 
some  show  of  reason,  that  his  doing  so  was  incon- 
sistent with  his  own  express  views  of  what  the 
specialities  of  the  Prime  Minister  in  a  constitutional 
country  ought  to  be.  To  a  certain  extent  this  is 
true.  He  did  declare  in  the  House  of  Lords,  when 
explaining  why  he  had  refused  to  support  Canning, 
that  he  was  fully  conscious  of  his  own  unfitness  to 
become  the  head  of  an  administration  ;  and  from 
that  opinion  he  never  deviated,  either  when  in  office 
or  out  of  it.  But  with  him  the  principle  of  loyalty 
was  carried  to  an  extreme,  and  when  the  King  told 
him  in  plain  terms  that,  unless  he  consented  to 
form  an  administration,  the  Government  could  not 
be  carried  on,  he  felt  or  believed  that  there  was  but 
one  course  for  him  to  follow.  Even  then,  however, 
as  the  published  correspondence  shows,  he  made  an. 


HIS   RELATIONS    WITH    HIS    COLLEAGUES  11 

effort  to  put  Peel  in  the  foremost  place.  It  failed, 
and  nothing  remained  except  to  dare  the  worst.  And 
the  worst  was  in  truth  as  formidable  as  it  could 
well  be.  The  old  Tory  party  was  already  broken 
up.  The  Whigs  had  shown  themselves  incapable  of 
forming  an  administration,  and  the  Canningites 
with  Kobinson  at  their  head  were  at  their  wits' 
end.  Where  was  he  to  look  for  colleagues  of 
whom  a  reasonable  hope  might  be  entertained 
that  they  would  prove  true  to  him  and  to  one 
another  ? 

We  all  know  now  whither  he  turned  in  search 
of  colleagues,  and  the  selection  which  he  made 
ought  to  have  prepared  the  country  for  the  direc- 
tion in  which  his  views  tended.  He  counted  too 
much,  however,  on  finding  in  others  that  unswerv- 
ing loyalty  to  their  chief  which  had  ever  been  with 
himself  a  leading  principle,  and  possibly  his  manner 
of  setting  forth  his  own  views  in  Cabinet  may  have 
savoured  a  little  of  the  tone  of  a  Commander  of  the 
Forces  explaining  his  plans.  However  this  may  be, 
we  find  in  Lord  Palmerston's  published  correspon- 
dence ample  proof  that  Mr.  Huskisson  and  his 
followers,  including  Lord  Palmerston  himself,  took 
office,  neither  expecting  nor  perhaps  desiring  that 
the  Duke's  guidance  would  be  to  them  agreeable. 
The  miserable  East  Ketford  question  only  brought 
to  a  head  jealousies  that  had  long  been  festering, 
and  showed  that  in  the  Duke's  hands  at  least  the 
work  of  creating  a  truly  national   party  was  not 


12      REMINISCENCES    OF  DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

to  be  achieved.  It  might  have  been  better  perhaps, 
both  for  his  own  reputation  and  for  the  Common- 
wealth, if  under  the  pecuUar  circumstances  he  had 
either  accepted  Huskisson's  explanation  or  himself 
relinquished  the  attempt  to  carry  on  the  Gov^ern- 
ment.  But  the  Duke  was  not  a  man  to  withdraw 
from  what  he  held  to  be  the  path  of  duty  because 
it  was  beset  with  difficulties.  He  let  it  be  known 
in  Whig  circles  that  the  way  was  open  to  negotia- 
tions with  Earl  Grey  and  the  more  high-minded 
of  the  party.  But  meeting  with  no  response,  he 
fell  back  upon  his  own  personal  adherents.  Of  all 
that  followed  no  detailed  account  need  be  given 
here.  His  measures,  whether  on  a  small  scale  or  a 
large,  failed  to  satisfy  the  people.  Forgetting  that 
the  English  are  not,  like  the  Spaniards,  constitution- 
ally temperate,  he  opened  beer-shops  all  over  the 
country,  which,  instead  of  breaking  in  upon  the 
monopoly  of  the  great  brewers,  served  only  to 
increase  drunkenness  and  give  a  fresh  stimulus  to 
poaching.  His  foreign  policy  likewise  was  con- 
demned as  un-English,  because  it  was  based  upon 
a  strict  adherence  to  treaties,  and  a  resolute  absten- 
tion from  interference  in  the  internal  affairs  of  other 
countries.  But  the  crowning  offence  of  all  was  the 
passing  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Relief  Act.  That 
this  measure  of  justice  to  a  large  portion  of  the 
King's  subjects  came  too  late,  is  certainly  true. 
Had  it  been  conceded  in  1801,  when  Ireland  merged 
her  parliament  into  that  of  the  United  Kingdoms, 


ROMAN    CATHOLIC   RELIEF    ACT  IS- 

the  condition  of  the  sister  country  to-day  would 
have  been  very  different  from  what  it  is.  Nay, 
had  the  arrangements  with  which  the  Duke  pro- 
posed to  surround  it  been  carried  into  effect,  it  is 
probable  that  the  Roman  Catholic  hierarchy  would 
have  been  as  manageable  in  Ireland,  as  it  was  at 
that  time  in  Holland  and  in  Prussia.  But  can  any 
man  in  his  senses  deny  that  the  passing  of  the 
measure  in  some  shape  or  another  had  become  in 
1829  a  necessity  ?  I  must  not,  however,  in  such  a 
sketch  as  I  propose  to  draw,  run  into  the  considera- 
tion of  great  questions  of  State.  The  angry  Tories 
insisted  at  the  time,  if  any  of  them  survive  they 
probably  would  insist  still,  that  the  Duke's  duty,  if 
unable  to  fight  against  destiny,  was  to  resign  ;  and, 
leaving  the  Whigs  to  carry  what  was  in  truth  their 
own  measure,  to  come  back  as  the  recognised  leader 
of  the  English  Protestants  and  govern  with  in- 
creased vigour.  But  surely  this  is  to  contradict 
both  the  facts  of  the  case  and  the  inferences  to  be 
drawn  from  them.  The  Duke  did  resign  on  the 
King's  refusal  to  sanction  the  proposed  measure. 
The  Eldon  section  of  the  Tories  declined  to  form 
a  Government  on  Protestant  principles,  and  the 
Whigs,  had  they  been  requested  to  steer  the  ship, 
which  they  were  not  because  of  the  King's  personal 
dislike  to  Earl  Grey,  would  have  certainly  refused, 
knowing  that  they  could  not  command  a  majority 
in  either  House.  What  was  to  be  done  ?  The 
Duke  could  not  leave  the  King  without  a  minister.. 


14      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

Peel  would  not  consent  to  endow  the  Roman 
Catholic  clergy.  The  only  course  left  open  was 
that  which  the  Duke  followed,  and  its  consequences 
are  familiar  to  us  all. 

It  is  not  so  easy  to  vindicate  or  even  to  palli- 
ate the  next  mistake  which  the  Duke  committed. 
Daniel  O'Connell,  as  is  well  known,  had  been  re- 
turned for  the  county  of  Clare,  while  yet  the  laws 
excluding  Roman  Catholics  from  Parliament  were 
in  force.  He  did  not  present  himself  to  take  his 
seat  till  the  Relief  Bill  was  passed.  Technically, 
no  doubt,  his  claim  to  be  received  as  a  member  of 
the  legislature  was  invalid,  and  the  House  had  a 
right  to  do  what  it  did,  i.e.  to  send  him  back  to  his 
constituents  for  re-election.  But  everybody  knew 
that  his  re-election  was  certain,  and  it  was  quite 
within  the  competency  of  the  Government  to  make 
light  of  a  mere  technicality,  and  to  throw  open  at 
once  to  the  victor  in  the  great  struggle  doors  which 
could  be  closed  against  him  only  for  a  few  days. 
O'Connell,  though  a  demagogue,  was  not  without 
generous  impulses.  It  is  quite  upon  the  cards  that 
such  a  concession  to  personal  and  Irish  feeling 
might  have  stirred  them  to  some  good  purpose.  It 
is  certain  that  the  treatment  which  he  received 
had  no  slight  effect  in  making  O'Connell  what  he 
afterwards  became. 

Worst,  however,  of  all  was  the  blunder  into  which 
the  Duke  fell,  in  his  abrupt  and  uncalled-for  decla- 
ration against  parliamentary  reform  in  any  shape. 


MISTAKES    IN    POLICY  15 

Had  George  iv.  been  still  alive,  and  the  Parlia- 
ment which  granted  Emancipation  still  in  existence, 
the  announcement,  though  not  very  wise,  might  have 
been  harmless,  because  with  the  exception  of  Lord 
Winchelsea  in  the  House  of  Lords  and  Sir  Edward 
Knatchbull  and  one  or  two  others  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  there  were  none  among  the  exasperated 
ultra-Tories  so  insane  as  to  pronounce  in  favour  of 
farther  constitutional  changes.  But  to  thrust  it 
forward  without  any  provocation  in  the  face  of  a 
Parliament,  in  which  he  could  not  count  on  a 
majority,  was  a  mistake  as  fatal  in  politics  as  a 
flank  march  in  presence  of  a  vigilant  and  superior 
enemy  in  war.  Not  one  of  the  angry  Tories  was 
conciliated  by  it.  They  regarded  it,  on  the  con- 
trary, as  a  sort  of  unprovoked  defiance,  and  as  men 
usually  do  when  under  the  influence  of  blind  fury, 
they  sacrificed  themselves,  and  all  that  they  had 
fought  for  through  life,  by  cheering  the  Whigs, 
when  one  after  another  they  stood  up  to  declaim 
against  it. 

On  the  whole,  therefore,  there  is  no  denying  that 
the  great  Duke's  two  years'  tenure  of  ofiice  as  First 
Lord  of  the  Treasury  added  nothing  to  the  glory 
which  his  eminent  services  in  the  field  had  ensured 
to  him.  I  have  often  heard  him  say,  that  they 
were  to  himself  the  most  unsatisfactory  in  the  course 
of  a  long  life — a  life  which  he  had  no  desire  to  Hve 
over  again.  But  neither  of  his  proceedings  as  a 
statesman,  nor  of  his  great  deeds  as  a  soldier,  was 


16       REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

it  my  present  purpose  to  speak.  The  little  that  has 
been  put  on  record  on  these  subjects  must  there- 
fore be  treated  as  nothing  more  than  a  necessary 
introduction  to  what  follows. 


BOOK   I 


CONFIDENCES 


If  EH  DVKE  (D?  WIELIIIN&TOH, 


KTBIISHED  Br  "W.  BLACKWOOD  *  SCWS,  ESIBBTIRSH.  tLOHTOS. 


CHAPTER   I 

I  SAW  the  Duke  of  Wellington  for  the  first  time  in 
September  1813,  when  a  movement  among  the 
French,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Bidassoa,  led  to 
some  changes  of  position  among  our  own  people. 
The  85th  was  winding  its  way  in  a  long  thin  column 
by  a  sort  of  mule  track  along  the  side  of  a  mountain 
towards  the  foundry  of  St.  Antonio.  Three  horse- 
men overtook  us,  and  stopped  to  converse  with 
Colonel  Thornton.  One  of  these  was  the  Duke  (then 
Marquis)  of  Wellington  ;  another,  if  I  do  not  mistake, 
Lord  Fitzroy  Somerset ;  who  the  third  was  I  don't 
know,  but  he  may  have  been  an  Orderly  Dragoon. 
There  was  no  escort,  nor  any  pomp  or  parade.  The 
Duke  was  then  forty-six  years  of  age ;  his  counten- 
ance was  very  animated ;  his  keen,  clear,  violet- 
coloured  eye  full  of  intelligence.  His  hair  was 
beginning  to  show  the  slightest  tinge  of  grey,  but 
not  so  much  as  to  detract  in  the  slightest  degree 
from  the  youthfulness  of  his  general  appearance. 
He  was  dressed  in  a  light  grey  frock-coat  (he  always 
wore  grey  when  there  was  a  chance  of  active  work, 
the  colour  being  more  conspicuous  from  afar  than 
blue),  a  cocked-hat,  low  in  the  crown,  without  a 
plume,  and  covered  with  oilskin.     A  pair  of  black 

19 


20       REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

leather  leggings,  fastened  at  the  sides,  and  reaching 
half-way  up  the  calf,  protected  his  legs ;  and  he 
wore  a  light  steel-mounted  sabre,  without  any 
sash.  He  spoke  kindly  and  cheerily  to  Colonel 
Thornton  about  the  appearance  of  his  regiment, 
asked  where  we  were  going,  told  him  we  should 
find  some  traces  of  the  recent  battles  as  we  went 
along,  and  then  getting  off  the  track,  so  as  not  to 
inconvenience  the  line  of  march,  trotted  on. 

My  next  vision  of  the  great  man  was  during  one 
of  the  pauses  in  the  battle  of  the  Nive.  The 
left  of  the  army  had  been  more  or  less  engaged  during 
four  days,  and  the  85th  was  in  line,  lying  down 
behind  a  screen  of  thin  underwood,  and  waiting  till 
the  pickets  which  were  engaged  in  our  immediate 
front  should  be  driven  in.  These  were  falling  back, 
and  Thornton,  a  fiery  Irishman,  had  just  shouted, 
"  Now  85th,  we  '11  give  them  one  volley,  and  charge 
them  to  hell,"  when  a  crowd  of  horsemen  arrived 
in  our  rear,  the  Duke  in  his  war-dress  being 
conspicuous  among  them.  It  was  then  that  he  and 
Soult,  from  opposite  ridges,  gazed  at  one  another, 
each  trying  to  divine  his  rival's  object.  The  Duke 
noticed  the  hurried  departure  of  one  of  Soult's 
staff-officers  towards  our  right ;  in  other  words, 
the  French  left.  He  had  not  dismounted,  though 
Soult  did ;  but  turning  his  horse  sharp  round, 
said,  in  tones  loud  enough  to  be  heard  along  our 
line,  "  Now  lads,  hold  your  own,  for  there  is  nothing 
behind  you,"  and  dashed  away  at  fuU  speed,  followed 


WITH    THE    PENINSULAR    ARMY  21 

by  his  staff  and  escort,  in  the  direction  towards  which 
the  French  mounted  officer  had  gone. 

After  this  I  saw  the  Duke  repeatedly  in  St.  Jean 
de  Luz,  where  the  headquarters  of  the  army  were 
established  during  the  winter.  On  one  occasion, 
when  we  had  marched  three  miles  to  the  rear,  in 
order  to  be  present  at  a  church  parade,  in  the 
Grande  Place  of  that  town,  he  came  in  his  blue 
frock-coat  and  plumed  hat  to  attend  the  service. 
The  congregation  consisted  of  the  brigade  of  Guards, 
of  all  the  staff,  and  departmental  people  off  duty,  of 
our  brigade,  and  a  good  many  dismounted  cavalry. 
Not  one  word  of  either  prayers  or  sermon  could  I 
hear,  the  square  being  far  too  large  for  any  human 
voice  to  embrace  it.  But  the  Duke  was  probably 
more  fortunate,  for  he  stood  near  the  clergyman, 
and  seemed  to  pay  the  most  devout  attention. 
This,  by  the  way,  was  the  only  occasion  on  which  I 
saw  the  face  of  a  chaplain  during  my  service  in 
Spain  and  the  South  of  France,  and  only  once 
during  the  year  spent  in  America  did  a  chaplain 
officiate  in  my  hearing. 

The  Duke's  habits  were  very  simple  at  this  time, 
but  I  need  not  describe  them  here,  having  told  the 
tale  faithfully  and  fully  in  my  memoir  of  the  great 
man. 

Thus  far  my  acquaintance  with  the  Duke  was  on 
a  level  with  that  of  every  soldier  in  the  Peninsular 
army.  I  met  him,  indeed,  more  than  once  in  the 
hunting-field,  for  he  kept  his  hounds,  and  during  the 


22      REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

winter  months  beat  the  coverts  and  got  occasionally 
a  good  run.  But  not  till  after  I  had  retired  from 
the  service,  and  become  a  beneficed  clergyman  in 
the  diocese  of  Canterbury,  could  I  claim  the 
honour  of  being  personally  known  to  him.  Mr. 
Croker,  in  his  Diary,  has  told  under  what  circum- 
stances I  was  brought  under  the  Duke's  notice,  very 
briefly  ;  I  venture  to  hope  that,  in  supplementing 
his  account,  I  may  carry  the  interest  of  the  reader 
along  with  me. 

I  had  from  an  early  period,  both  before  and  after 
the  appearance  of  The  Subaltern,  been  an  occa- 
sional contributor  to  Blackwood's  Magazine,  not  as 
a  party  writer  be  it  observed,  for  till  the  era  of  the 
first  Reform  Bill,  I  never  wrote  a  political  paper  in 
my  life ;  but  as  a  somewhat  sarcastic  reviewer  of 
some  so-called  evangelical  tracts,  as  a  describer  of 
detached  incidents  in  the  Peninsular  War,  and  as 
the  author  of  letters  on  the  then  "Present  State  of 
India." 

In  1824  I  began  a  series  of  papers  to  which 
Blackwood  gave  the  name  of  "The  Subaltern,"  and 
which  in  the  year  following  were  repubhshed  in  a 
separate  volume.  The  book  met  with  great  success, 
and,  being  anonymous,  public  curiosity — as  is  usual 
in  such  cases — was  exercised  on  the  subject  of  its 
authorship.  Instigated,  as  I  now  know,  by  Croker, 
Lockhart  wrote  to  me  and  asked  whether  I  had  any 
objection  to  let  my  name  be  known.  I  had  not  the 
most  distant  notion  as  to  the  purpose  for  which  the 


INTRODUCTION  THROUGH  "THE  SUBALTERN"   23 

question  was  put,  and  seeing  no  moral  necessity  for 
answering  it  otherwise,  I  told  my  correspondent 
that  he  might  do  in  the  matter  as  he  thought  fit. 
The  secret,  if  such  it  may  be  called,  was  in  con- 
sequence confided  to  Croker,  and  Croker  brought 
The  Subaltern  under  the  notice  of  the  Duke.  No 
time  was  lost  by  Lockhart  in  letting  me  know  in 
what  flattering  terms  the  Duke  had  spoken  of  the 
volume,  and  in  adding  his  advice  to  that  which 
Blackwood  had  urged,  that  I  should  ask  the  Duke's 
permission  to  dedicate  the  work  to  him.  I  did 
so,  and  by  return  of  post  received  the  following 
letter  : — 

"  London,  Nov.  9,  1826. 

"  Dear  Sir, — I  have  by  this  post  received  your 
letter  of  the  9th  inst.,  and  I  beg  to  assure  you  that 
you  have  been  correctly  informed  that  I  had  read 
your  work  with  the  greatest  interest,  and  that  I 
admire  the  simplicity  and  the  truth  with  which  you 
had  related  the  various  events  you  had  witnessed, 
the  scenes  in  which  you  had  been  an  actor,  and  the 
circumstances  of  the  life  you  had  led  as  an  officer  in 
the  85th  Regiment  in  the  army,  in  the  Peninsula, 
and  the  South  of  France.  I  should  be  happy  to 
have  an  opportunity  of  testifying  my  sense  of  the 
merits  of  your  work  by  consenting  to  the  dedication 
to  me  of  the  second  edition,  only  that  I  have  long 
been  under  the  necessity  of  declining  to  give  a 
formal  assent  to  receive  the  dedication  of  any  work. 
I   conceive   that,    by   such   assent,    I   give  a  tacit 


24       REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

guarantee  of  the  contents  of  the  work  so  dedicated. 
I  know  that  I  should  be  considered  to  have  placed 
myself  in  that  situation  by  some  who  might  not 
perhaps  approve  of  the  contents. 

"  From  what  I  have  above  stated,  you  will  see 
that  I  could  have  no  objection  to  stand  in  the  situa- 
tion described  in  relation  to  your  work,  and  I  must 
admit  it  would   be   better  to   draw  a   distinction 
between  good  and  meritorious  works  and  others, 
and  to  give  my  sanction  as  far  as  to  consent  to 
receive  the  compliment,  if  the  dedication  gives  such 
sanction  to  the  first  and  not  to  the  last.     But  there 
comes  another  difficulty.    Before  I  give  the  sanction, 
I  must  peruse  the  work  proposed  to  be  dedicated 
to   me,   and   I  must  confess  that  I   have  neither 
leisure     nor    inclination     to    wade     through     the 
hundreds,   I  might   almost  say  the   thousands,  of 
volumes  offered  to  my  protection,  whether  the  con- 
tents are  such  as  what  I  can  sanction,  and  become  a 
species  of  guarantee  for  their  worth,  their  fitness, 
etc.,  etc.,  etc.,  or  not.     I  have  therefore  taken  the 
idlest  and  shortest  way  out  of  the  difficulty,   by 
declining  to  give  a  formal   consent  to  receive  the 
dedication  of  any  work. 

"This  mode  of  proceeding  frequently  gives  me 
great  pain,  but  in  no  instance  has  it  given  me  more 
than  on  this  occasion,  as  you  will  perceive  by  the 
trouble  which  I  give  you  to  peruse,  and  myself  to 
write,  these  reasons  for  declining  to  give  a  formal  con- 
sent to  accept  the  compliment  which  you  have  been 


A    PROJECTED    BIOGRAPHY  25 

SO  kind  as  to  propose  to  me.  If,however,  you  think 
proper  to  dedicate  your  second  edition  to  me,  you 
are  perfectly  at  liberty  to  do  so,  and  you  cannot 
express  in  too  strong  language  my  approbation  and 
admiration  of  your  interesting  work. — I  have  the 
honour  to  be,  dear  sir,  yours  most  faithfully, 

"  Wellington. 

"  I  was  informed  when  I  landed  at  Dover  in  April 
of  the  change  in  your  line  of  life  and  circumstances 
by  one  of  your  former  brother-officers." 

In  181^6  there  was  among  publishers  a  per- 
suasion, suggested  to  them,  1  believe,  by  Sir  Walter 
Scott,  that  fortunes  might  be  made  by  bringing  out, 
in  a  cheap  form,  works  on  all  subjects,  provided 
they  were  written  by  well-known  authors.  Mr. 
Constable  of  Edinburgh  was  the  first,  if  I  recollect 
right,  to  act  on  the  suggestion,  and  his  Miscellany 
was  advertised  and  becrun.  Amonor  other  writers 
I  was  applied  to,  and  the  subject  proposed  for  me 
was  a  military  life  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington.  It 
was  assumed  that  from  annual  registers,  and  old 
gazettes  and  newspapers,  abundant  material  for 
such  a  biography  might  be  found,  and  the  price 
offered  for  it  was  a  liberal  one ;  but  the  flattering 
terms  in  which  the  Duke  had  virtually  authorised 
the  dedication  of  lltc  Subaltern  to  him,  caused  me 
to  stipulate,  before  accepting  Mr.  Constable's  offer, 
that  the  Duke  should  approve  and  even  assist  me 
in  the  performance  of  my  task.     I  therefore  wrote 


26      REMINISCENCES   OF    DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

to  the  Duke,  explaining  exactly  what  it  was  pro- 
posed to  do,  and  begging  him  to  say  whether  such 
a  military  biography  would  be  acceptable  to  him. 
Almost  by  return  of  post  I  received  the  subjoined 
reply,  which  at  once  put  a  stop  to  all  further  nego- 
tiations with  Mr.  Constable. 

"London,  Nov.  U,  1826. 

"  Dear  Sir, — I  have  received  your  letter  of  the 
10th  inst.,  and  am  much  flattered  by  your  desire  to 
write  my  life. 

"The  fact  is  that  the  history  of  my  life  is  the 
history  of  various  military  campaigns  and  political 
negotiations  and  transactions,  upon  which,  if  ever  I 
am  to  be  a  party  to  communicate  anything  to  the 
public,  it  must  be  the  truth,  the  whole  truth,  and 
nothing  but  the  truth.  I  don't  think  that  anybody 
will  be  of  opinion  that  the  latter  could  now  be 
published.  Indeed  I  am  at  present  in  a  situation 
which  would  prevent  ray  declaring  many  matters 
that  I  know  to  be  necessary  to  elucidate  trans- 
actions to  which  I  have  been  a  party,  and  the  time 
is  too  near  in  which  most  of  these  transactions  have 
occurred  to  render  it  proper  of  me  to  talk  of  them  at 
all. 

"  In  respect  to  military  transactions,  the  same 
objection  does  not  exist,  at  least  not  in  the  same 
form.  I  am  at  liberty  to  publish  what  I  please, 
and  no  inconvenience  to  the  public  could  result  from 
such  publication.     But  if  I  insist  upon  publishing 


SIR   THOMAS    MUNRO  27 

the  truth  regarding  not  only  individuals  but  nations 
(and  anything  in  the  shape  of  history  that  is  not 
the  truth  would  be  unworthy  of  your  pen,  as  it 
would  be  very  disagreeable  to  me,  and  would  besides 
do  no  good),  I  shall  for  the  remainder  of  my  life  be 
engaged  in  controversies  of  a  nature  most  un- 
pleasant, as  they  will  be  with  the  wounded  vanity 
of  individuals  and  nations.  I  have  therefore  con- 
stantly declined  to  give  any  information  to  any 
historian  or  authority  from  myself  to  write  any- 
thing, and  I  confess  that  I  should  alter  my  course 
in  this  respect  with  reluctance. — Ever,  dear  sir, 
yours  most  faithfully,  Wellington." 

Gratified  as  I  naturally  was  by  the  manner  in 
which  the  Duke  had  met  my  demands  upon  his 
notice,  I  was  still  personally  a  stranger  to  him  when, 
in  1829,  Mr.  Ravenshaw,  a  director  of  the  East 
India  Company,  and  a  former  and  great  admirer  of 
Sir  Thomas  Munro,  offered  to  hand  over  to  me  the 
materials  which  he  had  collected,  provided  I  were 
willing  to  write  a  life  of  that  distinguished  officer. 
It  happened  that  through  my  intimacy  with  Mr. 
James  Gumming,  at  that  time  head  of  the  Judicial 
and  Revenue  Department  of  the  Board  of  Gontrol,  I 
had  become  surcharged,  so  to  speak,  with  knowledge 
on  Indian  affairs.  The  letters  contributed  to  Black- 
ivood,  and  bearing  the  7iom  de  plume  "  An  Old 
Indian,"  were  the  results  of  the  books  I  had  read,  and 
of  the  conversations  I  had  held  with  Mr.  Gumming, 


28       REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

and  Gumming,  who  was  on  friendly  terms  with  Mr. 
Ravenshaw,  had  doubtless  spoken  to  him  of  me  as  of 
one  well  posted  up  in  Indian  subjects.     Be  this  as 
it  may,  I  felt  myself  strong  enough  to  close  with 
Mr.  Ravenshaw's  proposal,  and  the  Munro  papers — 
a  huge  pile — were  in  consequence  sent  to  me.     On 
looking  them  over  I  found  a  good  many  letters,  both 
from  Sir  Thomas  to  the  Duke  and  from  the  Duke 
to    Sir  Thomas,  which,  though    written  while  one 
was  plain  Major  Munro,  and  the  other  Sir  Arthur 
Wellesley,  I  did  not  feel  at  liberty  to  make  use  of 
without  obtaining  the  consent  of  the  survivor  of 
the   correspondence.     Accordingly    I    wrote  to  the 
Duke,  informing  him  how  I  was  circumstanced,  and 
in  due  course  received  the  subjoined  reply. 

"London,  Aug.  10,  1829. 
"Dear  Sir, — I  will  be  very  much  obliged  to 
you  if  you  will  send  me  by  post  all  my  letters  to 
Sir  Thomas  Munro,  and  if  you  will  be  so  kind  as 
come  over  to  see  me,  when  I  shall  be  at  Walmer 
Castle  in  the  end  of  the  week,  I  will  tell  you 
whether  I  can  consent  to  the  publication  of  any,  and 
of  which. — I  have  the  honour  to  be,  dear  sir,  yours 
most  faithfully,  Wellington. 

"  I  beg  that  you  will  dine  and  sleep  the  day  that 
you  will  come  over." 

The  Duke  was  at  that  time  Prime  Minister.     He 
had  just  passed  the  Roman  Catholic  Relief  Bill,  and 


FIRST   VISIT   TO    WALMER  29 

was  in  the  midst  of  all  the  anxiety  and  labour  con- 
sequent upon  the  undisguised  break-up  of  the  party 
which  had  forced  him  into  high  office.  Yet,  even 
under  such  trying  circumstances,  he  found  time  and 
inclination  to  give,  in  the  kindest  manner,  attention 
to  the  concerns  of  an  individual  whom  he  had  never 
seen,  and  who  had  no  claims  upon  his  notice.  His 
former  letters  had  gratified  me  much,  his  present 
one  more.  I  could  not  sufficiently  admire  the 
nobility  of  character  of  one  who  was  thus  able  to 
postpone  even  for  a  moment  his  own  great  cares  in 
order  to  meet  the  wishes  of  a  stranger,  and  at  the 
same  time  offer  him  hospitality. 

The  invitation  to  Walmer  Castle  was  accepted  of 
course,  though  accompanied  by  a  request  that  I 
might  be  excused  from  sleeping  there.  The  truth 
is  that  the  prospect  of  becoming  the  guest  of  so 
great  a  man  a  good  deal  overawed  me,  and  I  pre- 
ferred driving  eight  miles  home  to  the  prospect  of 
spending  the  night  under  his  roof.  I  had  not  been 
ten  minutes  in  his  presence  before  all  fear  of 
approaching  him  disappeared.  He  was  most  un- 
affected, frank,  and  open,  at  once  putting  me  at  my 
ease.  The  party  consisted  of  Lord  Chancellor  and 
Lady  Lyndhurst,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Arbuthnot, 
Lord  Carrington,  and  Lady  Stanhope,  with  others 
whose  names  I  have  forgotten.  The  dinner  was  a 
very  pleasant  one,  and  at  nine  o'clock  or  there- 
abouts, the  ladies  having  retired  a  little  earlier,  we 
adjourned  to  the  drawing-room.     About  ten  o'clock 


30      REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

I  rose  to  take  my  leave.  The  Duke  went  with  me 
into  the  long  passage,  and  pulling  out  the  letters  I 
had  sent  him,  gave  them  to  me.  "There's  nothing 
in  any  of  them,"  he  said,  "that  I  should  care  to 
hide,  but  I  have  marked  a  few,  which  it  might  be 
as  well  to  suppress,  because  a  man  in  my  situation 
is  a  mark  for  all  manner  of  calumnies,  and  my 
meaning  would  be  sure  to  be  misrepresented." 
The  Duke,  as  I  have  said,  was  at  that  time  Prime 
Minister.  His  Beer  Bill  had  offended  some  of  his 
supporters ;  his  disinclination  to  allow  that  there 
was  much  real  distress  in  the  country  offended  more ; 
and,  most  disastrous  of  all,  he  had  repealed  the 
disablinof  laws  ao-ainst  Roman  Catholics.  Of  course 
I  paid  the  strictest  attention  to  his  wishes,  and  went 
beyond  them  so  far  as  slightly  to  change  an  ex- 
pression in  one  of  his  letters  to  Munro.  A  freeboot- 
ing  chief  was  giving  great  annoyance  to  Munro's 
district,  and  the  Duke,  advising  him  how  to  act, 
said,  "  I  recommend  three  yards  of  rope  for  Mahtab 
Kan,  if  you  catch  him."  I  knew  that  the  Duke's 
enemies  on  reading  this  would  raise  a  cry  of  cold- 
blooded indifference  to  human  life,  so  I  substituted 
the  phrase,  "  I  recommend  you  to  treat  Mahtab 
Kan,  if  you  catch  him,  as  he  deserves." 

From  that  date,  August  29,  till  I  quitted  Ash 
in  1834,  I  had  the  privilege  of  living  with  the 
Duke  on  the  most  friendly  terms.  He  never 
visited  Walmer  without  inviting  me  to  spend  some 
days  with  him  there,  and  making  me  acquainted 


OFFER   OF    A    CROWN-LIVING  31 

with  many  persons  well  worth  knowing.  As  long 
as  he  remained  at  the  head  of  the  Government,  our 
intercourse,  though  on  his  part  uniformly  gracious, 
never  extended  to  confidence.  That  would  have 
involved  a  mistake  on  his  part,  into  which  he,  of  all 
men  living,  was  the  least  likely  to  fall.  But  he 
showed  his  goodwill  towards  me  by  offering  me  a 
Crown-living  in  Devonshire,  which  partly  because, 
in  point  of  value,  it  would  have  added  little  to  mv 
income,  and  partly  because  of  its  distance  from 
London,  I  considered  it  prudent  to  decline. 
Patrons,  and  especially  patrons  of  Crown -livings,, 
do  not  usually  care  to  have  their  courtesies  rejected. 
The  Duke  rose  far  above  such  weakness,  and  said 
with  a  smile,  "  You  are  very  right.  We  must  wait 
till  something  better  comes  in  the  way." 


CHAPTER   II 

The  year  1830  will  long  be  memorable  for  the 
startling  events  which  marked  its  progress  both  at 
home  and  abroad.  In  England  there  had  been  for 
some  time  previously  much  distress.  The  poor- 
rates  were  everywhere  onerous,  and  in  some  of  the 
agricultural  districts  well-nigh  doubled  the  rental. 
All  the  efforts  made  to  reduce  them  failed,  as  well 
because  they  were  misdirected,  as  because  the  law 
itself  had  become  a  huge  abuse.  Farmers  dismissed 
their  men  in  shoals,  and  took  on  again  just  as  many 
as  were  absolutely  necessary,  whom  they  paid,  in 
great  part,  out  of  the  rates.  The  residue  they 
compelled,  in  my  neighbourhood  at  least,  if  single 
men,  to  come  to  the  workhouse,  whence  they  were 
marched  out  every  day  in  gangs  to  do  whatever 
jobs  the  overseer  might  think  fit  to  put  them  to. 
It  chanced,  also,  that  the  overseer  of  Ash  for  that 
year  was  a  harsh  taskmaster.  If  no  better  employ- 
ment could  be  found  for  able-bodied  paupers,  he 
caused  them  to  dig  holes  in  the  ground,  and  fill 
them  up  again,  and  wounded  their  susceptibilities, 
perhaps  still  more  deeply,  by  substituting  for  the 
good  product  of  malt  and  hops,  which  used  to  be 
the  workhouse  beverage,  beer  brewed  from  molasses. 


AGRICULTURAL   DISTRESS    IN    1830  33 

Whether  similar  practices  were  followed  elsewhere, 
I  did  not  know  then,  and  do  not  know  now,  but 
that  for  some  reason  or  another  a  bad  spirit  was 
universal  among  the  working-classes  soon  became 
evident.  No  barricades  were  raised  in  the  streets 
of  London,  but  throughout  the  provinces,  especially 
in  Hampshire,  in  Sussex,  and  in  Kent,  a  civil  war 
of  the  worst  kind  broke  out.  The  cry  was  raised 
that  men  were  wantonly  thrown  out  of  work  by  the 
substitution  of  machinery  for  manual  labour.  As 
had  been  the  case  in  the  manufacturing  districts, 
when  spinning-jennies  put  hand-looms  out  of  date, 
so  now,  in  the  rural  districts,  threshing-machines 
became  abhorrent  to  the  labouring-classes.  Day 
after  day,  gangs  of  excited  men  marched  through 
the  land,  invading  farmhouses,  and  compelling  their 
occupants  to  bring  out  their  threshing-machines 
in  order  that  they  might  be  broken.  From  such 
invasions  Ash,  my  parish,  was  not  exempt.  It 
played,  on  the  contrary,  rather  a  conspicuous  part 
in  the  drama,  and  thus  brought  me  face  to  face 
with  difficulties  of  no  common  order.  For  up  to 
that  moment  I  had  been  on  the  most  amicable 
terms  with  all  classes  of  my  people.  I  could  not 
indeed  approve  of  the  manner  in  which  with  us,  as 
well  as  elsewhere,  the  poor-law  was  abused.  But 
I  had  no  power  to  prevent  it,  nor,  to  confess  the 
truth,  could  I  clearly  see  my  way  to  a  better  system 
of  management.  With  the  farmers  therefore — and 
we  had  no  resident  squire — my  relations  were  always 

c 


34      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

excellent,  and  by  the  labourers  and  their  families 
I  was  held  both  in  respect  and  affection.  But  it 
was  impossible  for  me,  with  some  of  the  habits  of 
my  original  calling  still  unchanged,  to  sit  still  and 
see  the  parish  in  a  state  of  mutiny.  The  invasion 
of  Ash  took  place,  I  well  recollect,  on  what  was 
the  market-day  at  Sandwich.  I  was  sitting  hard 
at  work  in  my  study,  when  my  servant  rushed  in, 
pale  and  out  of  breath,  to  inform  me  that  *'  a 
thousand  men  at  least "  were  marching  through  the 
parish,  breaking  machines,  and  compelling  the 
farmers'  wives  to  give  them  drink.  I  ordered  my 
horse  to  be  saddled,  and,  running  out  of  doors,  found 
six  or  eight  of  the  tenantry  all  mounted  and 
grouped  together  in  the  village  street.  The  crowd 
was  in  a  remote  part  of  the  parish,  though  not  so  far 
removed  as  to  prevent  our  hearing  the  shouts  which 
accompanied  every  act  of  violence.  I  urged  my 
neighbours  to  follow  me  and  help  to  put  a  stop  to 
the  tumult.  Only  one  man  responded  to  the  call ; 
the  rest,  pleading  business  in  the  market-town, 
rode  away,  indifferent  to  the  reproaches  which  in  my 
indignation  I  sent  after  them.  And  good  George 
Quested,  the  parson's  churchwarden,  and  the  parson 
himself,  were  left  to  face  the  mutineers,  and  take 
the  consequences. 

All  that  followed  is  as  fresh  in  my  memory  as  if 
events  which  occurred  sixty  years  ago  had  occurred 
but  yesterday.  We  trotted  down  to  the  district 
called  West  Marsh,  and  encountered  a  body  of  some 


MACHINE-BREAKING    AT    ASH  35 

forty  or  fifty  men  who  had  just  smashed  a  threshing- 
machine  at  one  farmhouse,  and  were  moving  towards 
another.  We  saw  at  a  glance  that  the  bulk  of  the 
throng  were  not  parishioners ;  the  leaders,  on  the 
contrary,  and  a  good  many  of  their  followers,  were 
strangers,  both  to  Quested  and  me,  thereby  giving 
confirmation  to  the  opinion,  which  was  prevalent  at 
the  time,  that  the  impulse  to  mischief  came  from 
abroad.  As  soon  as  the  crowd  saw  us  approach,  and 
heard  me  desire  them  to  stop,  almost  all  the  Ash 
men  hung  back  ;  the  others  moved  on,  led  by  a 
fellow  in  the  garb  of  a  sailor,  and  shouted  to  us 
to  get  out  of  the  way,  otherwise  worse  would  come 
of  it.  I  was  satisfied  that  the  majority  of  the  rioters 
would  certainly  not  join  in  any  attack  upon  us,  and 
persuaded  myself  that  they  would  interfere,  if  the 
need  arose,  in  our  defence ;  and  in  this  faith  I  rode 
at  once  against  the  leader  and  seized  him  by  the 
collar.  His  own  people  made  a  move  to  close  round 
him,  but  meeting  with  no  support  from  behind,  they 
stopped  short.  Then  followed  a  sort  of  parley,  of 
which  the  conclusion  was,  that  the  rioters  agreed  to 
follow  me  quietly  into  the  village  and  then  disperse, 
provided  I  did  not  insist  on  making  a  prisoner  of 
the  sailor.  And  they  kept  their  word.  Once,  and 
only  once,  coming  on  a  threshing-machine,  which  a 
farmer  had  brought  out  of  his  yard  and  placed  in 
their  way,  a  partial  rush  was  made  towards  it.  But 
when  I  dismounted  and  planted  myself  beside  it, 
saying  at  the  same  time  that  I  would  mark  the  first 


36      REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

man  who  laid  a  hand  upon  it,  a  shout  was  raised  to 
"  Let  it  alone."  And  let  alone  it  was.  We  there- 
upon resumed  our  march,  Quested  and  I  leading, 
without  an  attempt  made  to  commit  any  other  out- 
rage by  the  way. 

Whether  any  report  was  made  of  these  proceed- 
ings to  the  Lord- Lieutenant,  or  my  conduct  on 
one  or  two  subsequent  occasions  had  attracted  his 
attention,  I  do  not  know.  But  I  was  soon  after- 
wards surprised  and  gratified  by  receiving  a 
communication  from  the  Clerk  of  the  County  to  the 
effect  that  my  name  had  been  submitted  in  the 
proper  quarter  for  a  commission  as  Justice  of  the 
Peace.  I  could  not  possibly  decline  the  honour,  the 
country  being  in  so  disturbed  a  condition,  and  may 
even  go  so  far,  without  boasting,  as  to  say  that  in 
my  new  capacity  I  did  some  service  to  the  State. 
Machine-breaking  had  become  troublesome,  and  to  a 
certain  extent  dangerous.  Had  the  county  magis- 
trates acted  at  the  outset  with  greater  vigour,  it 
never  could  have  grown  to  what  it  became,  for  one 
or  two  convictions,  followed  by  transportation  for 
seven  years,  put  a  stop  to  it.  Hence,  while  men's 
minds  misgave  them  in  London,  and  other  great 
towns,  we  in  the  country  persuaded  ourselves  that 
from  danger  to  person  and  property  we  might  now 
consider  ourselves  free.  We  were  not  left  long 
under  this  delusion.  A  more  formidable  evil  soon 
overtook  us,  because  we  had  more  to  guard  against 
in  the  shape    of  incendiarism.     Night  after  night 


INCENDIARISM    AT    ASH  37 

stackyards  and  barns  took  fire,  and  when  engines 
hurried  from  the  nearest  towns  to  each  imperilled 
spot,  the  crowds  which  gathered  to  watch  the  blaze 
refused  to  work  with  them.  I  remember  to  this  day 
the  impression  made  upon  me  when  returning  home 
from  a  visit  to  Scotland  with  my  family.  I  saw,  as 
I  approached  Ash,  late  in  the  autumual  evening,  the 
glare  of  the  strong  red  reflection  of  what  was 
evidently  a  fire  upon  a  large  scale.  Nor  were 
we  left  in  doubt  as  to  the  case.  The  overseer's  farm 
and  stackyard  were  in  flames,  and  the  crowd  which 
had  gathered  to  watch  the  progress  of  the  con- 
flagration shouted  as  rick  after  rick  caught  fire. 
Becker,  for  such  was  the  overseer's  name,  had 
acquired  and  deserved  a  high  character  for  courage. 
He  was  a  powerful  man,  against  whom  at  market- 
dinners,  when  a  good  deal  of  strong  drink  was  con- 
sumed, few  ventured  to  stand  up,  and  those  who  did 
invariably  went  down.  He  expressed  himself  like- 
wise on  all  occasions  in  very  contemptuous  terms 
of  the  hostile  feelings  of  the  working-classes,  and 
boasted  of  a  double-barrelled  gun  always  ready  for 
such  of  them  as  should  attempt  to  do  him  an  injury. 
There  was  an  end  of  all  this  display  of  bravado  now. 
As  he  moved  about  among  the  wreck  of  his  property, 
haggard  and  incapable,  as  it  seemed,  of  giving  direc- 
tion to  others,  it  was  impossible  not  to  pity  him, 
and  the  more  because  from  time  to  time  scores  were 
heard  to  cry  aloud,  "  Where's  your  double-barrelled 
gun  now,  Becker  ?     Why  don't  you  hand  out  your 


38       REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

treacle  beer  ? "  Nor  was  the  Beckers'  the  only  fire 
that  spread  dismay  and  brought  disgrace  upon  the 
neighbourhood.  Far  and  near,  night  after  night, 
huge  bonfires  of  corn  and  fodder  broke  in  upon  the 
darkness,  and  the  very  atmosphere  for  days  was 
scented  with  the  odour  of  smouldering  ashes. 

It  was  during  the  prevalence  of  scenes  like  these 
that  the  Duke  paid  his  usual  visit  in  the  autumn 
of  1830  to  Walmer  Castle,  and  there,  for  the  first 
time  in  my  life,  I  met  Sir  Robert  Peel.      Of  the 
impression  he  made  upon  me  I  will  not  speak  here, 
because  the  proper  time  for  doing  so  will  occur  by 
and  by.    But  I  may  mention,  in  passing,  the  state  of 
the  country,  and  still  more,  perhaps,  that  the  condi- 
tion of  the  Tory  party  appeared  to  have  made  a  deeper 
impression  upon  him  than  they  seemed  to  do  upon 
the  Duke.     This  is  not  perhaps  to  be  wondered  at. 
Peel,  who,  as  Home  Secretary,  was  charged  with  the 
maintenance  of  public  tranquillity,  had  not  gone 
through  that  training  which  enabled  the  Duke  to 
remain  cool  and  collected  amid  pressing  dangers. 
It  would  have  been  strange  therefore  had  he  been 
as  able  as  his  illustrious  chief  to  put  a  restraint 
upon  his  anxiety.     But  whether  this  was  the  sole 
operating    cause,  or  other  feelings  moved   him,   I 
could  not  but  be  struck  at  the  marked  difference  in 
the  tone  of  their  conversation  when  passing  events 
were  referred  to.     The  Duke  spoke  openly  on  the 
prevalence  of  discontent  at  home,  and  the  unhappy 
way   in   which   it   showed   itself;    of  the   French 


THE   DUKE   AND    SIR   ROBERT   PEEL  39 

Revolution,  and  its  mischievous  influence  abroad ; 
and  on  the  probable  results  of  the  General  Election 
consequent  on  the  demise  of  the  Crown.  Peel,  on 
the  other  hand,  sat  silent  and  reserved,  or,  if  he 
spoke  at  all,  it  was  only  to  show  that  such  discus- 
sions were  the  reverse  of  agreeable  to  him.  One 
custom,  however,  I  noticed,  common  to  both.  They 
abused  the  newspapers,  and  professed  to  hold 
their  comments  in  contempt ;  yet  twice  a  day 
copies  of  all  that  were  published  in  London  arrived 
in  duplicates  at  the  Castle,  and  twice  a  day  both 
the  Prime  Minister  and  the  Home  Secretary  spent 
much  time  in  studying  them.  On  the  whole,  how- 
ever, the  brief  interval  between  the  Dissolution 
and  the  meeting  of  the  new  Parliament  proved,  so 
far  as  the  Duke  was  concerned,  one  of  comparative 
quiet.  He  might  be,  and  probably  was,  little  satis- 
fied with  the  general  aspect  of  public  affairs,  but, 
unlike  Peel,  he  kept  his  anxieties  to  himself,  and 
made  his  house  as  agreeable  to  his  visitors  as  if 
there  hung  no  cloud  on  the  political  horizon. 

They  who  read  these  sketches  can  scarcely  be 
made  to  understand  how  anxiously  public  opinion 
was  affected  in  1830  by  the  first  advances  of  railway 
travelling  towards  a  system.  Up  to  that  date  the 
possibility  of  acquiring  such  a  mastery  over  steam  as 
to  make  it  the  instrument  of  locomotion  by  land  as 
well  as  by  sea  was  called  in  question,  and  the  engineer 
who  proposed  to  construct  a  line  which  would  connect 
Liverpool  with  Manchester  was  spoken  of  in  general 


40      REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

society  as  next  door  to  a  madman.  The  work  was, 
however,  completed,  and  in  order  to  give  ^clat  to 
the  triumph  of  genius  over  nature,  the  Duke  of 
WelHngton  was  invited,  in  his  capacity  of  Prime 
Minister,  to  take  part  in  the  opening  journey.  It 
chanced  that  he  was  at  Walmer  and  surrounded, 
by  a  large  company  of  guests  when  the  invitation 
reached  him,  and  not  a  few,  especially  his  lady 
friends,  were  urgent  with  him  to  decline.  "No 
great  or  permanent  good  could  come  of  the  inven- 
tion, because  stage-coaches  already  travelled  at  the 
rate  of  eight  or  nine  or  even  ten  miles  in  the  hour, 
and  if  the  attempt  were  made  to  exceed  that  pace, 
the  respiration  of  passengers  would  become  painful, 
perhaps  impossible."  The  Duke  would  listen  to  no 
remonstrances.  He  thought,  as  others  did,  that  the 
experiment  was  risky,  and  derided  the  idea  of  ac- 
celerating the  pace,  as  was  promised,  to  twenty 
miles  an  hour.  Even  a  twelve- mile  pace  he 
regarded  as  excessive,  because  difficult,  if  not  im- 
possible to  control,  and  agreed  in  the  opinion  that 
iron  way  would  never,  for  general  traffic,  supersede 
our  macadamised  roads,  then  brought  to  perfection. 
But  he  considered  himself  bound  to  play  the  part 
assigned  to  him,  in  what  was  represented  to  be  a 
great  national  enterprise,  and,  insisting  on  his  friends 
remaining  in  the  Castle  till  his  return,  he  departed. 
We  did  wait  his  return,  which  was  not  delayed 
beyond  the  time  required  for  the  double  journey, 
and  he  arrived,  dining  with  us  a  changed  man.     The 


THE    DUKE    AND    PALMERSTON  41 

unfortunate  death  of  Huskisson,  due  entirely  to  his 
own  lack  of  presence  of  mind,  had  made  a  very 
painful  impression  on  the  Duke.  He  described  it 
as  the  most  shocking  spectacle  he  had  ever  wit- 
nessed, and  though  freely  admitting  the  fault  lay 
with  Mr.  Huskisson  himself,  he  never  afterwards,  as 
long  as  it  was  possible  to  find  posthorses,  could  be 
persuaded  to  travel  by  rail. 

The  company  broke  up  soon  after  the  Duke's 
return,  only  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Arbuthnot  and  myself 
remaining,  at  his  request,  behind.  It  seemed  as  if  a 
load  were  lifted  from  his  mind  by  the  departure  of 
the  others,  for  he  became,  to  an  extent  which  was 
new  at  least  to  me,  communicative  on  all  manner  of 
subjects.  He  spoke  much  of  Huskisson  in  connec- 
tion with  Canning  and  Palmerston,  insisted  that 
Canning  had  learnt  more  from  Huskisson  than  he 
taught  him,  and  censured  Palmerston  for  widening 
on  all  occasions,  instead  of  trying  to  reconcile, 
divisions  in  the  Cabinet.  Even  at  the  last,  he  said, 
it  was  quite  in  Palmerston's  power  to  have  arrested 
the  break-up.  "  But  Palmerston  never  liked  me. 
I  stood  in  his  way  when  he  attempted  and  all  but 
succeeded  in  subordinating  the  office  of  Commander- 
in-Chief  to  that  of  Secretary  at  War,  and  he  never 
forgave  me.  As  Secretary  at  War,  in  his  proper 
place  he  behaved  well  enough,  but  as  a  member  of 
my  Cabinet  he  was  by  no  means  an  agreeable  col- 
league. I  may  be  wrong,  but  I  have  always  sus- 
pected him  of  having  put  Huskisson  up  to  the  move 


42      REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

which  led  to  the  tender  of  his  resignation.  He 
imagined  that  without  Huskisson  and  his  friends, 
himself  being  one  of  them,  I  should  not  be  able  to 
get  on,  though  what  he  expected  to  follow  my  fail- 
ure, I  do  not  pretend  to  guess." 

"  Did  you  really  feel  Huskisson  to  be  a 
serious  loss  to  your  administration — he  was  not 
a  great  speaker,  and  Peel  and  he  had  little  in 
common  ? " 

Duke.  "  He  was  not  a  great  speaker,  certainly, 
but  he  had  clear  views  of  his  own  on  most  subjects, 
and  expressed  them  clearly  in  Parliament.  He 
didn't  much  like  Peel,  nor  Peel  him,  but  they  got  on 
tolerably  well  together — as  well,  that  is  to  say,  as 
men  constituted  like  them  could  be  expected  to  do. 
It  was  not  an  easy  team  to  drive,  I  can  assure  you, 
and  Huskisson,  though  he  made  a  bad  start,  was 
by  no  means  the  most  restive  of  the  set.  I  should 
have  been  very  glad  to  keep  him,  had  he  taken  the 
only  course  open  to  him  by  withdrawing  his  letter, 
but  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  accept  his  assurance 
that  he  never  intended  to  resign,  and  had  not 
therefore  resigned  at  all.  I  gave  Dudley  a  pretty 
broad  hint  of  what  would  set  all  to  rights,  and  if 
Dudley  conferred,  as  I  have  reason  to  believe  he 
did,  with  Palmerston,  before  seeing  Huskisson,  it 
seems  to  me  more  probable  that  Palmerston  per- 
suaded him  to  be  silent,  than  that  Dudley,  who 
really  did  not  wish  to  leave  me,  should  have 
deceived  Huskisson." 


THE    DUKE    AND    HUSKISSON  43 

"  We  all  know  that  Huskisson  was  very  sorry  for 
the  part  he  played  in  the  Penrhyn  case,  and  would 
have  come  back  to  you  on  your  own  terms,  if  you 
had  given  him  any  encouragement.  It  was  with 
this  view  that  he  was  invited  to  meet  you  at  Lord 
Hertford's." 

Duke.  "  I  am  quite  aware  of  all  that,  but  it 
was  then  too  late.  I  could  not  possibly  request 
Murray,  or  anybody  else,  who  had  joined  me  in  my 
hour  of  need,  to  make  way  for  one  who  had  twice 
kicked  over  the  traces,  and  was  just  as  likely  as 
not  to  do  so  again.  The  Government  would  have 
lost  rather  than  gained  strength,  had  I  acted  other- 
wise than  I  did." 

"  You  found  a  coalition  with  the  Whigs  to  be 
impossible  ? " 

Duke.  "  I  never  tried  to  coalesce  with  the 
Whigs.  Lord  Grey  was  made  aware  that  I  was 
open  to  any  proposals  from  him,  because  I  believed 
that  in  repealing  the  laws  against  the  Catholics  I 
had  bridged  over  all  serious  differences  of  views 
that  kept  us  asunder,  and  had  he  acted  on  his  own 
judgment,  I  believed  at  one  time  that  he  might 
have  formed  such  a  Government  as  would  have 
commanded  the  respect  of  the  country.  But  Lord 
Grey,  able  man  as  he  is,  and  eloquent  in  debate, 
is  very  proud,  and,  at  the  same  time,  deficient  in 
self-reliance.  He  was  over-persuaded  by  those 
about  him,  and  especially  by  his  son-in-law,  to 
reject    my    advances,    and    was    the    more    easily 


44       REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

induced  to  do  so  because  of  the  King's  former 
treatment  of  him.  His  refusal,  and  the  de- 
fection of  the  Canningites,  left  me  no  alterna- 
tive except  to  work  with  such  tools  as  came  to 
hand." 


CHAPTER    III 

The  new  Parliament  met  on  the  26th  October 
1830.  While  the  General  Election  was  going  on, 
hopes  were  entertained  that  the  Government  would 
command  a  small  majority,  but  as  return  after 
return  came  in,  these  grew  continually  fainter,  and 
in  the  end  vanished  away.  The  truth  is  that  the 
Duke's  administration  had  never  been  much  in 
favour  with  the  country.  There  prevailed  in  those 
days,  among  all  classes,  an  extreme  jealousy  of 
soldier-statesmen,  from  the  influence  of  which  the 
Duke,  in  spite  of  his  eminent  services,  was  not 
exempt ;  and  though  the  extent  to  which  he 
reduced  public  expenditure  was  freely  admitted, 
even  that  failed  to  enlist  public  opinion  on  his  side. 
The  press,  likewise,  was  generally  hostile  to  him ; 
he  had  never  courted  it,  but,  on  the  contrary,  em- 
braced every  opportunity  of  vilifying  and  sneering 
at  it,  and,  when  Prime  Minister,  avoided  as  much  as 
possible  all  communication  with  newspaper  editors 
and  writers.  Now  Canning,  throughout  the  whole 
of  his  public  life,  had  acted  on  a  principle  directly 
the  reverse,  and  his  followers,  aware  of  the  policy 
of  so  acting,  took  their  cue  from  him.  The  con- 
sequence was  that  even  the  Courier,  at  that  time 

46 


46      REMINISCENCES   OF    DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

almost  the  sole  ministerial  paper  in  London,  gave 
to  the  Duke's  ministers  but  a  half-hearted  support, 
while  all  the  rest,  especially  after  the  passing  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Relief  Bill,  did  their  best  to 
write  him  down. 

Fully  alive  to  these  facts,  and  convinced  that  the 
prevalent  hostile  feeling  was  personal  to  himself, 
the  Duke  could  not  bring  himself  to  believe,  in 
spite  of  the  equivocal  results  of  the  General  Election, 
that  it  would  be  impossible  to  carry  on  the  Govern- 
ment as  it  had  heretofore  been  conducted.  All 
that  was  needed  in  order  to  keep  things  straight 
was,  in  his  opinion,  that  he  should  retire  and  a  more 
popular  statesman  take  his  place.  His  language 
was  this  :  "There  are  not  fewer  than  six  parties  in 
the  country — the  Radicals,  who  oppose  all  Govern- 
ments ;  the  ultra-Tories,  with  the  Duke  of  Cumber- 
land at  their  head;  Lord  Grey,  his  followers  not 
very  numerous;  the  Whigs,  of  whom  Brougham 
may  be  regarded  as  the  spokesman  ;  the  Canningites, 
and  ourselves.  We  are  much  stronger,  both  in 
Parliament  and  out,  than  any  one  of  our  opponents, 
and  if  I  were  out  of  the  way,  it  appears  to  me  that 
they  would  be  unable  to  agree  among  themselves 
respecting  our  successors  ;  factions  holding  views 
so  widely  divergent  would  scarcely  unite  for  the 
single  purpose  of  turning  us  out.  If  I  remain 
at  the  head  of  the  Government,  it  is  likely 
enough  that  the  hatred  of  me  may  lead  to  a 
movement    of  this   sort,    and   should    this     occur. 


POLITICAL   SITUATION,    1830  47 

and  our  ministration  be  broken  up,  the  conse- 
quences cannot  fail  to  be  serious.  For,  however 
difficult  it  may  be  for  an  Opposition  so  disjointed 
to  form  an  administration  from  it,  sometime  or 
other  they  will,  and  unless  they  bring  forward  at 
once  obviously  revolutionary  measures,  a  Govern- 
ment fairly  beaten  and  forced  to  resign  would  be 
guilty  of  postponing  public  duty  to  party  purposes, 
were  it  to  refuse  to  its  successor  a  fair  trial.  On 
these  grounds  I  am  very  desirous  that  Peel  should 
become  First  Lord  of  the  Treasury.  He  might, 
though  I  could  not — after  the  line  taken  by  Lord 
Grey  at  the  opening  of  the  last  session — make 
another  attempt  to  bring  him  into  the  Government. 
I  doubt  whether  the  Government  would  not  lose  as 
much  as  it  gained  by  such  an  arrangement,  because, 
though  the  late  King's  death  has  removed  the  most 
serious  obstacle  out  of  the  way,  Lord  Grey  would 
not  prove  a  very  manageable  subordinate.  His 
following  is  small.  But  the  trial  might  be  made, 
and  failing  success  in  that  quarter,  the  Canningites 
— with  whom,  after  all  that  has  passed,  I  could  not 
act — would  hardly  refuse  to  take  office  under  Peel. 
Moreover,  the  fact  that  the  Prime  Minister  sat  in 
the  House  of  Commons  and  not  in  the  Lords  would 
go  some  way  to  win  the  favour  of  the  public.  On 
the  whole,  therefore,  though  far  from  sanguine,  I 
think  the  tide  would  turn  in  our  favour  were  I  to 
go  back  to  the  army  and  Peel  take  my  place.  And 
I  am  confident  that  if  we  could  tide  over  the  first 


48       REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE   OF    WELLINGTON 

few  months,  our  party  would  ere  long  become  as 
powerful  as  it  ever  was," 

Peel,  as  is  well  known,  declined  to  accede  to  the 
Duke's  wish.  Perhaps  he  really  distrusted  his  own 
power  to  conciliate  any  section  of  the  Opposition, 
for — and  I  write  the  words  with  some  diffidence — 
he  might  have  no  particular  desire  to  extricate  from 
his  difficulties  one  who,  on  a  memorable  occasion, 
had  made,  as  it  were,  a  scapegoat  of  him.  Be 
this  as  it  may,  the  Duke,  though  he  bore  himself 
bravely  in  public,  felt  keenly  the  difficulties  of  his 
position.  Foreign  affairs  were  all  in  confusion — 
the  revolution  in  Paris  made  itself  felt  in  every 
country  in  Europe,  leading  to  the  revolt  of  his 
Belgian  provinces  against  the  King  of  the  Nether- 
lands, the  expulsion  of  the  Bussian  garrison  from 
Warsaw,  and  popular  risings  in  Germany ;  then 
with  the  disputed  succession  in  Portugal  and  the 
threatened  intervention  of  Spain,  the  internal  affairs 
of  her  neighbour  exercised  him  greatly,  because  of 
the  danger  lest  one  mishap  or  other,  or  all  combined, 
should  bring  on  a  great  European  war.  At  home 
the  state  of  Ireland  threatened  to  become  more  in- 
tolerable than  ever.  The  concession  of  the  political 
rights  to  the  Boman  Catholics  only  encouraged 
them  to  make  fresh  demands,  and  the  hostility 
between  them  and  the  Orangemen  in  the  North 
grew  every  day  more  rancorous.  Moreover,  a  faint 
cry  for  reform  of  the  House  of  Commons  began  to 
be  heard,  and  so  unpopular  had  the  ministry  become, 


FALL   OF   THE    DUKE's    ADMINISTRATION  49 

that  for  the  Secretary  of  State  for  the  Colonies 
no  place  in  Parliament  could  be  found.  All  but 
despairing  of  the  future,  the  Duke  put  a  strong  re- 
straint upon  himself,  and  through  Lord  Clive  offered 
Lord  Palmerston  a  place  in  the  Cabinet ;  the  offer 
was  declined,  and  nothing  remained  except  to  face 
whatever  the  near  future  might  bring  about. 

I  must  not,  however,  trespass  further  on  the  pro- 
vince of  history.  They  who  read  it,  if  it  be  only  in 
the  Annual  Register,  will  learn  how,  during  the 
autumn  of  1830,  discontent  and  incendiarism  spread 
throughout  the  country. 

Birmingham  led  the  way  in  forming  a  political 
union  which  had  its  branches  in  London  and  other 
great  towns.  Wild,  anonymous  letters,  full  of 
threatening,  reached  public  men,  and  hence  the 
King,  after  promising  to  dine  at  the  Mansion 
House  in  November,  was  restrained  by  the  Govern- 
ment from  fulfilling  the  engagement. 

With  these  and  other  great  events  arising  out 
of  them  I  have  no  right  to  meddle  further.  They 
proved  too  strong  for  the  Duke's  administration 
to  grapple  with,  and,  defeated  in  the  House  of 
Commons  on  a  question  affecting  the  Civil  List, 
members  announced  that  they  retained  ofiice 
only  till  their  successors  should  be  appointed. 
And  in  due  time,  though  not  without  some  delay, 
caused  by  Lord  Grey's  reluctance  to  stifle 
Brougham's  Reform  Motion,  by  raising  him  to  the 
woolsack,  appointed  they  were. 


CHAPTER    IV 

I  NEVER  saw  the  Duke  so  depressed  as  he  appeared 
to  be  during  the  few  days  he  spent  at  Walmer, 
prior  to  the  reassembling  of  Parliament.  For  the 
resignation  of  his  Government  occurred  on  the 
16th  of  November,  and  the  Houses  having  ad- 
journed, after  passing  a  few  urgent  measures,  did 
not  meet  again  till  the  following  February.  Of 
this  interval,  one  portion  was  spent  in  London, 
another  at  Strathfieldsaye,  and  a  third — a  very 
limited  one — at  Walmer.  The  great  man  made  no 
attempt  to  hide  from  the  few  friends  who  met  him 
there  his  anxiety  respecting  the  future.  He  spoke 
openly,  likewise,  about  the  causes  which  had  led  to 
the  ministerial  defeat,  which  he  attributed  in  part 
to  the  passing  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Relief  Bill, 
in  part  to  the  French  Revolution.  He  would 
not  admit  for  a  moment  that  his  own  abrupt  de- 
claration against  parliamentary  reform  had  the 
slightest  influence  on  the  matter.  "  I  did  not 
declare  against  parliamentary  reform  in  any 
shape.  What  I  said  was,  that  Parliament,  as  now 
constituted,  provided  means  for  attending  to  the 
interests  of  every  portion  of  the   Empire,  and  of 


PARLIAMENTARY    REFORM  51 

every  class  in  the  community ;  that  in  what  are 
called  nomination  branches,  seats  were  provided  for 
gentlemen  representing  the  interests  of  India  and 
the  Colonies  ;  that  the  labouring-classes  had  their 
spokesmen  in  the  freemen  of  some  boroughs,  and 
the  potwallopers  of  others ;  and  that  till  I  saw 
a  scheme  better  adapted  to  serve  all  their  interests 
than  that  now  in  existence,  I  would  never  propose 
or  support  any  proposal  to  interfere  with  it.  My 
speech  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  our  defeat, 
which  had  been  arranged  and  determined  upon 
before  the  Houses  met.  It  was,  as  I  have  just  said, 
the  Catholic  question  that  gave  us  the  first  shake 
which  the  French  Revolution,  occurring  just  as  the 
General  Election  had  begun,  completed.  I  confess 
that  I  did  not  count  on  losing  so  many  of  our 
friends  as  forsook  us  in  consequence  of  the  Catholic 
Relief  Bill.  Nor  do  I  believe  that  we  should  have 
lost  them  but  for  the  extraordinary  influence 
exercised  by  the  Duke  of  Cumberland  over  the  late 
King,  and  the  King's  extraordinary  method  of 
carrying  on  the  business  of  the  country.  But  so  it 
was,  and  there  was  nothing  left  for  us,  except  to  let 
all  parties  understand  that  office  was  accessible  to 
every  man  against  whom  the  King  did  not  enter- 
tain a  personal  prejudice.  We  hoped  thus  to 
strengthen  ourselves  by  bringing  in  the  more 
moderate  of  the  Whigs  ;  but  the  Whigs  would  not 
come  except  as  a  party,  and  as  a  party  we  could 
not  receive  them.     We  had  the  Canningites,  and 


52       REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

having  no  success  with  them,  we  determined  to 
fight  the  battle  by  ourselves,  and  as  we  were  by  far 
the  strongest  party  of  all,  I  have  no  doubt  we 
should  have  fought  it  successfully,  but  for  the 
French  Revolution.  That  came  at  a  most  unfor- 
tunate moment,  and  turned  the  heads  of  the 
constituencies.  And,  now,  what  is  the  prospect 
before  us  ?  The  gentlemen  now  in  power  are  com- 
mitted to  Revolution  by  the  applause  with  which, 
as  private  persons,  they  greeted  those  in  Paris  and 
Brussels.  They  must  thus  be  at  one  in  their 
foreign  politics,  though  how  they  are  to  govern  in 
the  King's  name,  and  in  maintenance  of  his  con- 
stitutional authority,  I,  for  one,  cannot  see.  But 
now  about  our  home  policy.  No  two  of  them  think 
alike  about  corn  laws,  currency,  and  income-tax, 
or  even  parliamentary  reform.  And  their  ideas 
as  to  the  proper  mode  of  governing  Ireland  are  so 
expressed  as  to  mean  anything.  The  short  and  the 
long  of  it  is,  that  with  such  a  Government  to  direct 
our  affairs,  I  anticipate  both  foreign  war  and 
confusion,  not  to  say  revolution,  at  home." 

Holding  these  opinions,  the  Duke  still  deprecated 
any  attempt  prematurely  to  overthrow  the  existing 
administration.  The  breach  between  his  party  and 
the  ultra-Protestants  was  still  open ;  and  he  felt 
not  only  that  it  would  be  improper  not  to  give  their 
members  for  the  time  being  a  fair  trial,  but  that 
were  any  combination  capable  of  throwing  them  out, 
there  was  no  party   capable   to   take  their  place. 


THE    REFORM    BILL  53 

But  no  sooner  was  their  scheme  of  parliamentary 
reform  made  known  than  all  his  enercfies  seemed  to 
return.  The  question  raised  was  in  his  opinion 
whether  the  monarchy  should  make  way  for  the 
democracy,  and  all  the  great  institutions  of  the 
country,  as  well  as  the  rights  and  properties  of 
individuals,  be  set  aside,  not  by  violence,  but  by 
due  course  of  law.  "  It  was  a  Revolution  in  itself," 
he  once  said  to  me,  "  which  ought  to  have  been 
crushed  in  the  bud,  and  I  suggested  to  Peel  the 
propriety  of  moving  that  leave  be  refused  to  in- 
troduce the  Bill.  But  Peel  always  had  his  own 
views  about  what  was  due  to  the  House  of 
Commons,  and  my  advice  was  not  acted  upon. 
And  now  you  see  what  a  mess  we  are  in."  What- 
ever may  be  thought  of  the  ruling  motive  which 
guided  Earl  Grey  and  his  colleagues  in  their  policy, 
there  is  no  denying  the  skill  with  which  their 
ministerial  measure  was  concocted,  and  the  adroit 
manner  in  which,  during  the  progress  of  incubation, 
its  authors  kept  their  own  counsel.  Not  the  House 
of  Commons  only,  but  the  whole  country,  was  taken 
by  surprise  when  the  details  of  the  Beform  Bill 
were  made  public.  Not  the  most  advanced  of  the 
Liberals  in  town  or  country  had  anticipated  any- 
thing so  drastic,  and  even  of  Conservatives,  or,  as 
they  called  themselves,  Tories,  there  were  many 
who  at  the  first  blush  pronounced  in  favour  of  it. 
As  to  the  newspapers,  all,  or  nearly  all,  without 
exception,     as     well     metropolitan    as    provincial, 


54       REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

joined  in  a  chorus  of  applause,  and  it  seemed  for 
a  moment  as  if,  without  the  slightest  opposition  in 
any  quarter,  the  Government  would  achieve  a  great 
success.  Yet  the  interval  between  the  first  and 
second  reading  of  the  Bill  sufficed  to  dispel  in 
many  quarters  the  delusion — for  so  the  Duke 
pronounced  it  to  be — under  which  men  laboured, 
mainly,  it  must  be  allowed,  because  of  the  extrava- 
gant terms  in  which  the  press  spoke  to  the 
working-classes  of  the  benefits  they  must  receive 
from  the  new  order  of  things.  The  reaction,  how- 
ever, was  not  so  decided  as  to  make  them  in  any 
way  alive  to  the  folly  they  had  committed.  They 
might  see  the  peculiar  tendency  of  the  course 
which  the  Government  had  entered,  but  they 
could  not  bring  themselves  to  arrest  it,  because 
a  defeat  of  the  present  Government  must  bring 
back  the  Duke  and  Peel  into  power.  Hence  not  a 
few,  who  had  to  repent  the  proceeding,  voted  in 
favour  of  the  Bill  on  the  second  reading,  thus 
enabling  it  to  pass  by  a  slender  majority  of  nine. 
This  was  all  that  the  Government  desired.  They 
had  no  intention,  if  they  could  help  it,  of  fighting 
the  battle  of  Reform  with  the  existing  Parliament, 
and  seized  in  consequence  the  first  appearance  of 
opposition  in  Committee  to  dissolve.  Amidst  what 
disgraceful  scenes  the  command  for  a  dissolution 
went  forth,  I  need  not  stop  to  discuss.  Angry 
mobs  traversed  the  streets  of  London,  without  the 
faintest  attempt   made  by  the  police   to  disperse 


PASSAGE    OF   THE    BILL  55 

them,  committing  all  sorts  of  outrages,  and  break- 
ing, among  others,  the  windows  of  Apsley  House, 
where  the  Duke  was  in  attendance  by  the  dying 
bed  of  the  Duchess. 

The  ministers,  doubtless,  saw  in  this  the  ultimate 
triumph  of  their  policy.  Its  immediate  effect  was 
to  open  the  eyes  of  many  who,  had  they  not 
allowed  themselves  to  be  blinded  by  passion, 
would  have  earlier  seen  that  the  repeal  of  the 
last  of  the  penal  laws  against  the  Koman  Catholics 
constituted  no  ground  of  permanent  estrangement 
between  them  and  the  Wellington  administra- 
tion. 

As  I  have  elsewhere  said,  I  had  not  up  to  that 
moment  taken  much  interest  in  politics,  and  had 
never  written  a  political  paper  in  my  life.  My  con- 
tributions to  Blackivood  had  all  been  either  literary 
or  theological,  and  even  these,  in  consequence  of 
numerous  engagements  elsewhere,  had  of  late  been 
withheld.  But  it  was  impossible  to  be  as  much  in 
the  Duke's  society  as  I  then  had  the  happiness  to 
be,  and  to  hear  him  day  by  day  speak  as  he  did, 
without  catching  the  infection,  and  becoming  as 
fully  convinced  as  he  was  that  on  the  defeat  of  the 
ministerial  measure  depended  the  existence  of  the 
monarchy.  Naturally  my  first  thought  was  turned 
towards  the  best  means  of  working  upon  public 
opinion.  Though  never  myself  a  contributor  to 
any  newspaper,  either  daily  or  weekly,  I  had 
made  the   acquaintance  of  many   gentlemen    who 


56      REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

did  contribute,  and  fully  understood  from  them 
how  different  was  the  treatment  they  and  their 
collaborateurs  received  at  the  hands  of  the  Tories 
and  the  Whigs.  This  knowledge  it  was  which 
induced  me  to  begin  a  correspondence  with  the 
Duke  which  gradually  mixed  me  up  more  closely 
than  I  anticipated  or  desired  in  a  struggle,  from 
the  outset,  all  but  hopeless. 

"Ash,  near  Wingham,  April  4,  1831. 

"My  Lord  Duke, — If  the  aspect  of  the  times 
were  different  from  what  it  is,  I  might  well 
apologise  for  the  contents  of  this  letter.  As  the 
case  stands,  I  persuade  myself  you  will  not  con- 
sider the  suggestions  I  am  about  to  make  either 
impertinent  or  valueless. 

"  I  think  it  was  Lord  Wynford  who  said  in  the 
House  of  Lords  that  the  few  who  stand  up  in 
defence  of  the  British  constitution  are  cramped  and 
hindered  through  lack  of  a  greater  support  from 
without.  Why  is  this  ?  Not  because  you  have  no 
friends  and  adherents  in  the  country,  for  you  have 
many,  but  because  you  have  no  unity  among  your- 
selves ;  and,  above  aU,  you  exercise  no  control  over 
the  periodical  press.  Now  the  press  is  a  very 
powerful  engine,  of  which  your  opponents  fully 
understand  the  value,  and  of  which  they  wisely 
make  use.  My  Lord,  you  must  endeavour  to  do 
likewise,  otherwise  there  can  be  no  hope  for  you  in 
the  present  or  any  other  great  struggle. 


A    SCHEME   FOR   A    NEWSPAPER   CAMPAIGN        57 

"  There  is  one  branch  of  the  periodical  press  to 
which,  it  appears  to  me,  due  attention  has  never 
been  paid.  I  allude  to  the  country  newspapers. 
Let  the  London  papers  write  as  they  will ;  but  if 
the  party  of  which  your  Grace  is  the  head,  the 
genuine  supporters  of  your  country's  greatness,  are 
in  earnest,  I  beseech  you  to  come  forward  not  with 
your  voices  in  the  senate  only,  but  with  your 
influence  out  of  doors.  In  other  words,  if  you  feel 
that  the  present  is  a  great  crisis,  make  arrange- 
ments for  setting  up  in  every  county  one  or  more 
newspapers  which  shall  advocate  the  cause  to 
which  you  are  attached.  I  will  stake  my  credit 
upon  it,  that  if  this  course  be  pursued  to  its  proper 
limits,  you  will  work  even  yet  such  a  change  in 
public  opinion  as  shall  surprise  both  you  and 
the  Government.  No  doubt,  such  arrangements 
will  be  attended  with  expense,  but  it  is  quite 
evident  that  neither  your  Grace's  high  character 
in  the  one  House,  nor  Sir  Robert  Peel's  authority 
in  the  other,  is  adequate,  under  existing  cir- 
cumstances, to  stem  the  tide  that  has  set  in. 
You  must  find  an  organ  through  which  to 
address  the  people  at  large,  otherwise  you  labour 
in  vain. 

"I  do  not  know  how  other  counties  are  circum- 
stanced, but  in  Kent,  papers  are  published  in  three 
different  towns,  in  Maidstone,  Canterbury,  and 
Rochester.  You  ought  to  command  one  in  each. 
I  am  much  deceived  if  the  money  laid  out  in  the 


58       REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

establishment  of  them  would  not  eventually  be 
recovered,  but  at  all  events  the  experiment  is 
worth  trying. 

"  I  have  only  to  add  that,  though  a  poor  man,  I 
am  ready  to  subscribe  my  proportion,  and,  as  far  as 
I  can,  to  give  a  direction  to  the  tone  of  all  the 
Kentish  papers ;  and  I  speak  from  book  when 
I  say  that  there  are  many  gentlemen  in  the 
county  who  would  willingly  come  forward  in  like 
manner. 

"Permit  me  to  crave  one  favour  here.  I  have 
not  dropped  a  hint  of  this  idea  to  any  one,  and 
I  trust  that  your  Grace,  if  you  think  it  worth  while 
to  notice  the  suororestion,  will  write  to  me  in  con- 
fidence,  so  that  I  may  hear  from  you  before 
Thursday — Friday  our  Quarter  Sessions  are  held, 
when  without  committing  you,  I  might  feel  the 
pulse  of  my  brother-magistrates. 

"  Believe  me,  with  the  most  profound  respect 
and  admiration,  your  Grace's  obliged  and  faithful 
servant,  G.  E.  Gleig. 

"  P.S. — I  have  already  done  my  best  to  get  the 
command  of  one  paper,  but  found  the  proprietor 
stubborn  because  the  Tories,  as  usual,  seem  afraid 
to  speak  their  opinions.  There  are  multitudes 
whom  dread  of  abuse  in  the  public  papers  keep 
neutral." 


THE   duke's    contempt    FOR   THE   PRESS  59 

"  Strathfieldsaye,  Ajoril  6,  1831. 

"  I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  4th  inst.  I 
acknowledge  that  I  allowed  my  contempt  for  the 
newspapers — a  contempt  founded  upon  the  experi- 
ence of  a  long  life,  of  their  utter  inefficiency  to  do 
an  individual  any  mischief,  even  when  directed  by 
such  men  as  Cobbett,  Walter,  Brougham,  Jeffrey, 
Perry,  Alexander,  etc.  —  to  influence  my  con- 
duct in  respect  to  the  press,  when  I  was  in  office. 
The  press  is  an  engine  of  a  very  different  descrip- 
tion, when  it  attacks  individuals,  and  when  it 
attacks  the  institutions  of  the  country.  It  is 
powerful  in  respect  to  the  latter,  and  no  man  can 
blame  my  own  neglect  more  than  I  do.  But  I 
must  say  this,  the  fault  is  not  entirely  mine.  I 
succeeded  to  a  period  of  total  disorganisation. 
There  were  neither  funds  nor  men  at  my  disposal  to 
do  even  the  little  I  wished  to  do  upon  this  subject 
when  I  was  in  office.  In  the  meanwhile  the  French 
Revolution  and  its  consequences,  and  the  press, 
destroyed  the  Government,  and  here  we  are  in 
a  real  crisis.  I  assure  you  that  I  am  not  insensible 
to  its  importance.  I  firmly  believe  what  I  stated 
on  my  legs  in  the  House  of  Lords. 

"  In  a  short  time,  and  that  a  period  approaching 
nearer  to  be  counted  by  months  than  by  years, 
nothing  will  remain  of  England  but  the  name  and 
the  soil.  Its  greatness  will  be  in  history,  but  every- 
thing which  occasioned  it,  preserved  it,  and  would 


60       REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

perpetuate  it,  will  be  annihilated.  Our  laws  are 
strong  and  even  sanguinary,  but  our  Government 
is  mild,  and  has  of  late  years  become  more  so  daily, 
insomuch  that  we  scarcely  feel  that  it  exists.  To 
this  habitual  mildness,  I  might  almost  say  apathy 
of  the  Government,  I  attribute  the  want  of  sensi- 
bility of  men  in  general  to  measures  proposed  by  the 
King's  ministers,  which  must  occasion  the  destruc- 
tion of  all  Government  and  authority  in  the 
country,  and  deprive  all  of  the  protection  hitherto 
enjoyed  for  persons  and  property. 

"In  a  country  in  which  there  are  the  largest 
properties,  real  as  well  as  personal,  held  by  subjects 
of  any  in  the  world,  in  which  there  are  various 
institutions  established  by  law,  or  by  charter,  or  by 
usage,  necessary  for  the  peace,  the  happiness,  or  the 
security  of  the  country  or  its  individuals,  in  which 
there  are  questions  daily  occurring  for  the  arbitra- 
tion and  decision  of  Government,  between  general 
utility  on  the  one  hand,  and  private  property  on 
the  other,  we  have  of  a  sudden  discovered  that  we 
can  go  on  without  a  Government  in  Parliament ; 
that  the  popular  influence  in  Parhament  is  not 
strong  enough,  and  that  we  must  try  new  theories 
in  order  to  strengthen  that  influence,  which,  at  the 
same  time,  we  are  assured  will  not  produce  the 
efiect  announced  to  be  intended,  but  will  tend  to 
strengthen  the  influence  of  property  in  Parliament, 
and  the  Conservative  influence  in  the  country. 
We  are  thus  to  be  cheated  to  our  ruin  and  destruc- 


HIS    FEAR   OF   REFORM  61 

tion,  which  I  consider  to  be  as  certain,  if  this 
measure  passes  the  Parliament,  as  it  is  that  I  am 
writing  by  the  Hght  of  the  day. 

"  I  have  done  everything  in  my  power  to  awaken 
the  public  to  a  sense  of  the  danger,  but  hitherto 
without  much  efiect.  Expense  has  not  been  spared 
to  obtain  some  assistance  from  the  press,  and  I 
believe  that  some  progress  has  been  made.  But,  of 
course,  I  can  have  but  little,  if  anything,  to  say 
to  these  eftbrts.  If  you  should  have  no  objection, 
however,  I  could  put  you  into  communication  with 
some  persons  who  have  turned  their  attention  to 
this  subject,  and  in  the  meantime  I  think  that  you 
would  do  well  to  communicate  with  those  whom 
you  may  think  capable  and  willing  either  to  con- 
tribute or  exert  themselves  in  the  general  cause 
in  Kent. 

"  Of  this  all  may  be  certain,  there  never  was  a 
cause  to  such  a  degree  the  cause  of  the  2>^iblic  in 
general  as  this  is.  The  question  reduced  to  its 
simple  terms  is  this.  Shall  we  continue  to  have  a 
Government  capable  of  protecting  our  lives,  pro- 
perties, and  institutions,  or  shall  we  not  ?  Or  rather, 
shall  we  incur  the  certain  loss  of  all  these — the 
happiness,  and  prosperity,  and  greatness  of  our 
country,  in  order  to  follow  the  example  of  the 
delusive  theories  of  our  neighbours  ? — Believe  me, 
ever  yours  most  faithfully,  Wellington." 


62       REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

"  Ash,  near  Wingham,  April  8,  1831. 

"  I  have  only  time,  before  setting  out  for  Canter- 
bury, to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  Grace's 
letter,  and  to  beg  of  you  to  make  any  use  of  me 
that  you  may  think  proper. 

"  I  still  cling  to  the  idea  of  bringing  influence  to 
bear  upon  the  provincial  press.  The  London  papers 
are  seldom  read  by  the  yeomanry  or  the  tradesmen 
in  the  provinces,  and  they  exercise  comparatively 
little  influence  over  the  minds  of  the  educated 
classes.  Besides,  the  London  press  probably  find 
their  own  interest  better  consulted  by  sailing 
with  the  stream  rather  than  endeavouring  to 
arrest  it. 

*'  We  had  a  meeting  of  magistrates  and  country 
gentlemen  yesterday,  almost  all  of  whom  were 
opposed  to  the  Bill,  though,  except  one  or  two,  all 
seemed  afraid  of  so  much  as  getting  up  a  petition 
against  it.  To-day  the  subject  will  be  resumed, 
and  I  still  hope  that  something  may  be  done. 

"Though  I  agree  with  your  Grace  in  thinking 
that  change  of  any  kind  is  dangerous,  will  it  be 
prudent  to  take  up  that  line  of  argument  ?  Will  it 
not  serve  our  purpose  better  to  speak  generally  of 
a  wish  to  abolish  corruption  without  trenching  on 
vested  rights  ? 

"  Our  county  member.  Sir  Edward  KnatchbuU, 
has  been  in  communication  with  me  for  some  time, 
and  seems  ready  to  follow  your  Grace's  lead ;  but 


A   SUGGESTED    COMPROMISE  63 

he  lacks  moral  courage. — Believe  me,  most  truly, 
your  Grace's  obliged  and  faithful  servant, 

**G.  R  Gleig." 


"  Ash,  near  "Wingham, 
''Saturday  Night,  April  9,  1831, 

"  I  have  just  returned  from  the  Quarter  Sessions, 
and  I  think  it  right  to  communicate  to  your  Grace 
the  substance  of  all  that  has  been  done,  and  is 
likely  to  be  done,  by  the  gentry  of  this  county. 

"As  an  individual,  I  take  the  line  of  professing 
hostility  to  any  sudden  change  in  the  constitution. 
Especially  such  a  change  as  the  Bill  must  produce. 
But  I  do  not  find,  even  among  the  most  decided 
Tories  here,  one  man  in  twenty  who  will  subscribe 
to  the  same  sentiments.  A  conviction  has  gone 
abroad  that  reform  in  some  shape  or  another  must 
be  accepted,  and  the  only  question  seems  to  be  as 
to  the  extent  to  which  changes  shall  be  carried. 
Whether  this  proceeds  from  intimidation,  or  from  a 
lialf-belief  in  the  wisdom  of  the  measure,  it  is  not 
worth  while  to  inquire.  Such,  however,  is  the 
plain  state  of  the  case,  and  I  am  much  afraid  that 
if  we  strive  to  hold  the  ground  which  your  Grace 
has  taken  up,  we  shall  be  left  without  a  single 
supporter  in  this  county. 

"  With  this  conviction  in  my  mind  I  am  prepared 
to  declare  in  general  terms  that  I  am  not  hostile  to 
the  principle  of  reform,  provided  a  reform  can  be 
effected  which  shall  not  break  in  upon  vested  or 


64       REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE   OF    WELLINGTON 

corporate  rights.  A  large  majority  of  the  gentle- 
men of  the  county  are  ready  to  make  a  similar 
declaration,  and  on  Tuesday  next  Sir  Brook  Bridges, 
Mr.  Hammond,  and  Mr.  Morrice  are  to  dine  here 
for  the  purpose  of  drawing  up  with  me  a  public 
statement  to  this  effect.  It  will  be  signed,  I  make 
no  doubt,  by  fifteen  out  of  twenty  of  the  landed  pro- 
prietors of  the  county,  and  will  explicitly  condemn 
the  ministerial  measure  as  one  fraught  with  the 
most  dangerous  consequences.  More  than  this  it 
is  useless  to  attempt,  and  I  assure  your  Grace 
that  some  management  was  necessary  to  obtain 
even  this, 

"  And  now  permit  me  to  press  one  point  upon 
your  Grace's  most  serious  consideration.  It  is  quite 
evident  the  Conservative  party  has  become  com- 
paratively feeble,  only  because  its  members  are  not 
at  one  among  themselves.  Will  it  not  be  prudent 
to  yield  a  little  in  order  to  remedy  this  most  dis- 
tressing evil?  I  do  not  ask  your  Grace  to  retract 
one  syllable  which  you  have  spoken  or  written.  I 
do  not  even  desire  to  find  you  employing,  in  the 
House  of  Lords,  other  arguments  than  those  which 
you  already  use  there.  But  in  your  private  corre- 
spondence, I  can  see  an  incalculable  measure  of  good 
likely  to  arise  from  a  certain  modification  of  opinion, 
could  you  bring  yourself  to  adopt  it.  My  Lord, 
we  want  a  leader,  and  we  look  to  your  Grace  to 
become  such  ;  but  we  are  composed  of  stufi*  so 
heterogeneous    that    we   w^ll    not    follow,    as    our 


A   SUGGESTED    COMPROMISE  65 

interests  require  us  to  do,  any  man  who  directly 
opposes  popular  clamour.  In  plain  language,  if 
your  Grace  would  take  the  trouble  to  write  me 
such  a  letter  as  I  could  show  to  my  fellow  com- 
mittee men  on  Tuesday — a  statement,  for  example, 
that  while  your  own  opinions  remain  unchanged, 
you  are  ready  to  adopt  the  lesser  of  two  evils,  by 
bringing  forward  a  measure  of  your  own,  or  at 
least  that  you  will  not  object  to  some  measure  of 
temperate  reform — I  am  much  mistaken  if  it  do 
not  immediately  lead  to  the  formation  of  a  strong 
and  active  Tory  party  in  this  quarter  of  the  kingdom. 
If  we  could  thus  throw  out  the  Government,  time 
at  least  would  be  gained,  and  much  might  occur 
in  the  interval  to  direct  public  attention  in  some 
degree  into  other  channels. 

"  The  view  of  reform  which  seems  to  be  most 
generally  taken  here  is  this  :  l5^.  That  the  large 
towns,  Birmingham  and  such  like,  shall  have 
members.  2nd.  That  the  boroughs  absolutely 
decayed,  Old  Sarum,  Grampound,  etc.,  be  dis- 
franchised, ord.  That  the  right  of  voting  in  other 
boroughs,  such  as  Romsey,  Rye,  etc.,  be  extended 
to  all  inhabitants  paying  a  certain  rental  or  assess- 
ment, and  in  some  cases  thrown  open  to  the 
hundred.  ^th.  That  some  changes  be  effected 
in  the  elective  system  of  Scotland  which  shall 
connect  the  privileges  with  absolute  property  in 
the  soil. 

'*  When  I  submit  these  four  propositions  to  your 

B 


66      REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

Grace,  I  do  so  with  no  intention  of  seeking  to 
influence  your  private  judgment.  All  that  I  am 
really  anxious  to  obtain — and  I  confess  that  in  this 
I  am  deeply  anxious — is  some  general  assertion  on 
your  part  that,  though  unconvinced  by  any  argu- 
ments you  have  heard,  you  are  still  ready  to  with- 
draw your  opposition  from  everything  in  the  shape 
of  reform.  Were  this  given,  however  guardedly,  it 
would  do  more  towards  restoring  unanimity  among 
the  true  friends  of  the  country  than  any  other 
steps  that  could  be  taken. 

"  In  case  you  think  fit  to  consider  this  point, 
may  I  beg  the  favour  of  a  reply  which  shall  reach 
me,  if  possible,  on  Tuesday  morning. — I  am,  with 
the  greatest  respect,  and  most  truly,  your  Grace's 
obliged  and  faithful  servant,  G.  R.  Gleig." 

"London,  April  10,  1831. 

"  My  dear  Sir, — I  have  received  your  letters  of 
the  8th  and  9th.  It  is  curious  enough  that  I,  who 
have  been  the  greatest  reformer  on  earth,  should 
be  held  up  as  an  enemy  to  all  reform.  This 
assertion  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  one  of  the 
lying  cries  of  the  day. 

"  If  by  reform  is  meant  parliamentary  reform,  or  a 
change  in  the  mode  and  system  of  representation, 
what  I  have  said  is,  that  I  have  never  heard  of  a 
plan  that  was  safe  and  practicable  that  would  give 
satisfaction,  and  that,  while  I  was  in  office,  I  should 
oppose  myself  to  reform  in  Parliament.     This  was 


THE   duke's   answer  (J7 

in  answer  to  Lord  Grey,  on  the  first  day  of  the 
session.  I  am  still  of  the  same  opinion.  I  think 
that  Parliament  has  done  its  duty — that,  constituted 
as  Parliament  is,  having  in  it  as  a  member  every 
man  noted  in  the  country  for  his  fortune,  his 
talents,  his  science,  his  industry,  or  his  influence, 
the  first  men  of  all  professions  in  all  branches  of 
trade  and  manufacture,  connected  with  our  colonies 
and  settlements  abroad,  and  representing,  as  it  does, 
all  the  states  of  the  United  Kingdom,  the  govern- 
ment of  the  country  is  still  a  task  almost  more 
than  human.  To  conduct  the  government  would 
be  almost  impossible,  if,  by  reform,  the  House  of 
Commons  should  be  brought  to  a  greater  degree 
under  popular  influence ;  yet  let  those  who  wish 
for  reform  reflect  for  a  moment  where  we  should  all 
stand  if  we  were  to  lose  for  a  day  the  protection  of 
Government. 

"  That  is  the  ground  on  which  I  stand  in  respect 
to  the  question  of  reform  in  general.  I  have  more 
experience  in  the  government  of  this  country  than 
any  man  now  alive,  as  well  as  in  foreign  countries. 
I  have  no  borough  influence  to  lose,  and  I  hate  the 
whole  concern  too  much,  to  think  of  endeavouring 
to  gain  any.  Ask  the  gentlemen  of  the  Cinque 
Ports  whether  I  have  ever  troubled  any  of  them. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  I  know  that  I  should  be  the 
idol  of  the  country  if  I  could  pretend  to  change 
my  opinion  and  alter  my  course,  and  I  know  that  I 
exclude  myself  from  political  power  by  persevering 


68       REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

in  the  course  which  I  have  taken.  But  nothing 
shall  induce  me  to  utter  a  word  either  in  public  or 
in  private  that  I  don't  believe  to  be  true.  If  it  be 
God's  will  that  this  great  country  should  be 
destroyed,  and  that  mankind  should  be  deprived  of 
this  last  asylum  of  peace  and  happiness,  be  it  so. 
But  as  long  as  I  can  raise  my  voice,  I  shall  do  so 
against  the  infatuated  madness  of  the  day. 

"  In  respect  to  details,  it  has  always  appeared  to 
me  that  the  first  step  upon  the  subject  was  the 
most  important.  We  talk  of  unrepresented  great 
towns.  These  are  towns  which  have  all  the  benefit 
of  being  governed  by  the  system  of  the  British 
constitution  without  the  evil  of  elections.  Look  at 
Scotland.  Does  Scotland  suffer  because  it  has  not 
the  benefit  of  riotous  elections  ?  I  think  that  reform 
in  Scotland  would  be,  and  I  am  certain  would  be 
thought,  a  grievance  by  many  in  that  country.  I 
can  answer  for  there  being  many  respectable  men  in 
Manchester,  and  I  believe  there  are  some  in  Birming- 
ham and  Leeds,  who  are  adverse  to  change. 

"  But  how  is  this  change  to  be  made  ?  Either  by 
adding  to  the  number  of  the  representatives  in 
Parliament  from  England !  or  by  disfranchising 
what  are  called  the  Botten  Boroughs  !  The  first 
cannot  be  done  without  a  departure  from  the  basis 
and  a  breach  of  the  Acts  of  Union ;  and  mind,  a 
serious  departure  and  breach  of  these  Acts,  inas- 
much as  the  limits  of  the  extension  could  not  be 
less  than  from  fifteen  to  twenty  towns. 


THE    DUKES    ANSWER  69 

"  The  last  would  be,  in  my  opinion,  a  violation  of 
the  first  and  most  important  principle  of  the  con- 
stitution for  no  valid  reason,  and  upon  no  ground 
whatever,  excepting  a  popular  cry  and  an  apprehen- 
sion of  the  consequences  of  resisting  it.  But  this 
is  not  all.  I  confess  that  I  see  in  thirty  members 
for  Rotten  Boroughs  thirty  men,  I  don't  care  of 
which  party,  who  would  preserve  the  state  of 
property  as  it  is,  who  would  maintain  by  their 
votes  the  Church  of  England,  its  possessions,  its 
churches  and  universities,  all  our  great  institutions 
and  corporations,  the  Union  with  Scotland  and 
Ireland,  the  union  of  the  country  with  its  foreign 
colonies  and  possessions,  the  national  honour 
abroad,  and  its  good  faith  with  all  the  King's 
subjects  at  home.  I  see  men  at  the  back  of  the 
Government  to  enable  it  to  protect  individuals  and 
their  property  against  the  injustice  of  the  times, 
which  would  sacrifice  all  rights  and  all  property  to 
a  description  of  plunder  called  general  convenience 
and  utility.  I  think  that  it  is  the  presence  of  this 
description  of  man  in  Parliament  with  the  country 
gentleman  and  the  great  merchants,  bankers,  and 
manufacturers  which  constitutes  the  great  difference 
between  the  House  of  Commons  and  those 
assemblies  abroad  called  Chambers  of  Deputies. 
It  is  by  means  of  the  representatives  of  the  close 
corporations  that  the  great  proprietors  of  the 
country  participate  in  political  power.  I  don't 
think  that  we  could   spare  thirty  or  forty  of  these 


70      REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

representatives,  or  change  them  with  advantage  for 
thirty  or  forty  members,  elected  for  the  great 
towns  by  any  new  system.  I  am  certain  that  the 
country  would  be  injured  by  depriving  men  of 
great  property  of  political  power,  besides  the  injury 
done  to  it  by  exposing  the  House  of  Commons  to  a 
greater  degree  of  popular  influence. 

"  You  will  observe  that  I  have  now  considered 
only  the  smallest  of  all  reforms,  a  reform  which 
would  satisfy  nobody ;  yet  it  cannot  be  adopted 
without  a  serious  departure  from  principle  (principle 
in  the  maintenance  of  which  the  smallest  as  well  as 
the  greatest  of  us  is  interested),  and  by  running  all 
the  risks  of  those  misfortunes  which  all  wish  to  avoid. 

"  I  tell  you  that  we  must  not  risk  our  great 
institutions  and  large  properties,  personal  as  well 
as  real.  If  we  do,  there  is  not  a  man  of  this 
generation  so  young,  so  old,  so  rich,  so  poor,  so 
bold,  so  timid  as  that  he  will  not  feel  the  con- 
sequences of  this  rashness. 

"  This  opinion  is  founded  not  on  reasoning  only, 
but  on  experience,  and  I  shall  never  cease  to 
declare  it. — Believe  me,  my  dear  sir,  ever  yours 
most  faithfully,  Wellington." 


CHAPTER   y 

From  this  time  forth  up  to  the  termination  of  the 
great  struggle  I  had  the  happiness  of  being  ad- 
mitted into  the  Duke's  entire  confidence.  He  told 
me  of  all  that  he  had  done  and  was  going  to  do,  in 
order  to  hinder  the  Bill  from  passing.  He  showed 
me  his  correspondence  with  the  King,  when  reports, 
founded  on  what  appeared  to  be  good  authority, 
reached  him  of  the  secret  meaning  of  the  Birming- 
ham movements,  and  pointed  out  emphatically 
those  portions  of  his  Majesty's  reply  which  he 
believed  to  be  the  outpouring  of  his  own  feelings  in 
contradistinction  to  the  dictates  of  his  ministers. 
He  spoke  with  some  bitterness  of  the  attack  upon 
Apsley  House  at  the  period  of  the  dissolution,  and 
was  intensely  interested  in  regard  to  the  pending 
elections.  If  I  were  to  transcribe  all  the  letters 
that  passed  between  us — whether  relating  to  the 
parliamentary  contests,  or  to  the  establishment  of 
a  Conservative  press — I  should  fill  volumes.  I  con- 
tent myself,  therefore,  with  giving  a  few  specimens 
of  the  tone  in  which  our  correspondence  was 
carried  on,  as  being  sufficient  to  bring  into  full 
light,  both   the  views  of  the  great  man,  at   this 

71 


72      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

important    period    of    English     history,   and    the 
arguments  with  which  he  supported  them. 

We  have  long  known  that  the  hopes  entertained 
by  the  Tories  of  1831  of  holding,  if  not  their  own, 
at  all  events  some  portion  of  their  ground  at  the 
General  Election  in  April  of  that  year,  were  ground- 
less.    The  nation  had  lost  its  head  on  the  subject 
of  parliamentary  reform,  and  every  effort,  whether 
at   the   meetings    or   elsewhere,    to    let   the    con- 
stituencies   understand    the   real    nature    of    the 
situation,  failed.      In  Kent,  it  is  true,  the  Tories 
had    more   than    common   difficulties    to   contend 
against.        Our     leading     member.     Sir     Edward 
Knatchbull,  had  taken  a  prominent  part  in  bolster- 
ing up  the  Wellington  administration,  and  Lord 
Winchelsea,  perhaps  the   most  popular   nobleman 
in   the    country,  followed    up   his   duel   with    the 
Prime    Minister    by    denouncing    him,    and    still 
more.    Sir    Kobert   Peel,    at    one    public    meeting 
after  another,  as  traitors  to  the  constitution.      It 
was  no  great  gain  to  our  cause  that  now,  when 
the  results  of  their  policy  began  to  show  them- 
selves, they   cried    "  Peccavi."      Their   conversion 
confirmed  rather  than  shook  the  confidence  of  the 
constituencies   in   the  wisdom   of   the   ministerial 
proposals,  because  they  saw  in  it  only  the  deter- 
mination of  these  gentlemen  to  prop  up  old  abuses 
even   at   the    expense    of    their   own   consistency. 
Hence,  wherever  the  elections  failed  of  their  own 
accord  to  place  reformers  at  the  head  of  the  poll. 


THE   DISSOLUTION    OF    1831  73 

mobs  took  care  that  only  reformers  should  find  it 
safe  to  vote  according  to  their  consciences. 

In  the  elections  for  Kent,  for  Canterbury,  and 
for  Sandwich,  I  naturally  took  a  lively  interest. 
Kent  was  a  wider  field  than  I  could  hope  to  act 
upon  to  any  purpose.  Canterbury,  being  nine 
miles  from  Ash,  could  be  approached  only  through 
others.  But  Sandwich  was  close  at  hand,  and 
being  a  very  small  town  with  a  limited  constituency, 
and  no  other  resident  gentry  than  the  banker,  the 
solicitor,  and  the  clergyman,  looked  in  some  degree 
to  me  for  guidance  only,  I  believe,  because  the 
Duke  had  noticed  me.  At  the  General  Election 
which  followed  the  demise  of  George  iv..  Sandwich 
returned  Mr.  George  Price,  a  barrister,  and  a  sound, 
constitutional  Tory,  in  opposition  to  Mr.  Marriott, 
a  city  merchant,  and  a  Whig.  Mr.  Price  wisely 
refused  to  support  Mr.  Parnell  and  Sir  Edward 
KnatchbuU  in  their  attack  on  the  Civil  List.  Ac- 
cordingly, when  the  change  of  Government  took 
place,  and  Lord  Grey's  Reform  Bill  was  brought 
in,  Mr.  Price  gave  to  it,  at  every  stage,  an  uncom- 
promising opposition.  Of  this  course,  some  of  the 
leading  men  in  Sandwich  assured  me  that  the  bulk 
of  the  constituency  approved,  and  no  eftbrt  was 
wanting  on  my  part  to  confirm  them  in  the  faith 
thus  professed  for  them. 

The  dissolution  in  1831  took  us  all  by  surprise. 
It  showed  us  at  the  same  time  how  inaccessible  to 
argument   the  ministers   were,   and   that   only  by 


74      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

success  at  the  hustings,  which  few  were  sanguine 
enough  to  expect,  could  what  we  held  to  be  the 
first  move  in  a  great  revolution  be  arrested.  Alas, 
alas !  we  who  had  fostered  such  a  dream  found 
ourselves  in  a  miserable  minority.  In  some  places 
Tory  candidates  refused  to  come  forward  at  all ;  in 
others  they  no  sooner  perceived  that  the  odds  were 
against  them,  than  they  threw  up  the  game  ;  and  a 
third  section,  after  fighting  the  battle  out,  found 
themselves  beaten,  though  not  dishonoured.  It 
was  in  reference  to  matters  of  this  sort  that  the 
following  letters  were  written  to  the  Duke  of 
Wellington : — 

"  Ash,  near  Wingham,  ilfay  9,  1831. 
"  My  Lord  Duke, — Your  Grace  is  of  course 
aware  of  both  the  defeat  of  Mr.  Price,  and  the 
withdrawal  of  Sir  Edward  Knatchbull.  The 
latter  event  is,  in  my  opinion,  scarcely  to  be 
deplored,  because  Sir  Edward  had  so  committed 
himself  on  the  subject  of  reform,  that  he  could 
have  done  no  good  service  had  he  succeeded  in 
his  election.  The  former  is  indeed  a  heavy  blow. 
I  have  said  to  Mr.  Arbuthnot,  and  I  venture  to 
repeat  it  to  you,  that  at  a  crisis  like  the  present, 
when  talent  and  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
constitution  are  sorely  needed  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  a  vacancy  ought  at  almost  any  cost  to 
be  made  for  Mr.  Price.  He  will  more  than  repay 
whatever    exertions     are   made    in    his   behalf. — 


THE   DUKE    ON    THE    CRISIS  75 

Believe  me  to  be,  with  the  greatest  respect  and 
admiration,  most  truly  your  Grace's  obliged 
servant,  G.  E,.  Gleig." 

•*  Strathfieldsaye,  May  13,  1831. 

"  My  dear  Sir, — I  have  received  your  letter  of 
the  9th  only  this  morning.  I  was  very  sorry, 
indeed,  for  Mr.  Price's  disappointment.  I  assure 
you  he  is  one  of  those  I  should  be  most  anxious 
to  see  back  in  Parliament  if  it  should  ever  be 
in  my  power  to  take  any  steps  upon  such  a 
subject. 

"The  crisis  is  imminent,  and  the  danger  to  the 
country  very  great  and  even  certain.  If  the 
reform  should  not  produce  all  the  mischief  which 
its  enemies  and  best  friends  expect  from  it,  it  will 
occasion  a  woeful  disappointment,  and  scenes  of 
riot  and  plunder  which  the  revolutionary  members 
are  very  little  able  or  disposed  to  meet.  For  the 
same  reason,  any  opposition  to  it  in  the  House  of 
Lords  will  ensure  the  same  scenes.  The  revolu- 
tionary members  will  not  protect  persons  or  pro- 
perty. There  is  no  safety  for,  and  there  can 
exist  no  freedom  of  opinion.  Since  the  dissolu- 
tion of  Parliament  and  the  manner  of  it,  the  King 
has  lost  all  authority,  and  must  do  as  he  is  bid,  and 
his  revolutionary  servants  and  the  mob  are  at  this 
moment  threatening  the  gentry  in  all  parts  of  the 
country.  This  is  the  point  at  which  we  have  now 
arrived. 


76      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

"  In  fact,  the  King  and  the  Government,  the 
Radicals,  the  Dissenters,  and  the  mob  are  acting 
in  a  combination  against  the  bulk  of  the  property 
of  the  country,  real  and  personal,  the  Church,  and 
all  the  great  religious,  political,  commercial,  military, 
and  naval  establishments. 

"  I  shall  be  in  town  to-morrow,  and  stay  at  all 
events  till  after  Tuesday. — Believe  me,  ever  yours 
most  sincerely,  Wellington." 

"London,  June  30,  1831. 

"  My  dear  Sir, — As  far  as  I  can  form  a  judgment 
on  the  temper  of  the  times,  I  should  say  that  the 
fever  of  reform  has  passed  away,  and  has  been 
succeeded  by  an  apathy  in  this  town  which  is 
quite  remarkable.  Whether  the  fever  will  revive, 
or  there  will  be  counteraction,  is  more  than  I  can 
tell.  Only  conceive,  that  on  the  day  of  the  first 
reading  of  the  Bill,  not  a  word  was  said  upon  the 
subject  in  the  newspapers,  that  not  a  soul  was  to 
be  seen  in  the  avenues  of  the  Parliament,  and  that 
in  the  House  of  Commons,  returned  for  the  special 
purpose  of  passing  this  Bill,  not  a  speech  should 
have  been  fired  off  in  support  of  it,  on  this  first 
stage,  except  the  one  by  the  mover.  Lord  John 
Russell.  The  course  pursued  by  the  anti-reformers 
could  not  have  produced  this  silence  if  there  had 
existed  any  real  feeling  in  the  House  in  favour  of 
the  Bill.  On  the  other  hand,  there  were  no 
petitions.     For  our  sins,  however,  we  shall  have 


THE   DUKE    ON   THE    CRISIS  11 

the  Bill  through  the  Commons,  notwithstanding  the 
want  of  feeling  in  its  favour  there,  and  the  dislike 
of  it  by  every  well-constituted  man  in  this  town, 
and  I  may  say  throughout  the  country. 

"  You  will  ask  me  what  the  House  of  Lords  will 
do  in  that  case.  I  should  say  that  the  House  of 
Lords  can  reject  it  without  risk  of  the  imputation 
that  it  is  opposing  itself  to  the  decidedly  expressed 
wishes  of  the  community  at  large ;  that  its 
decision  will  be  supported  by  many,  I  might  say 
all  whose  judgment  is  worth  a  straw,  and  that  it 
ought  to  take  that  course. 

"  I  think  that  the  House  will  take  that  course. 
Nay,  more,  I  think  the  Government  will  be  aware 
that  that  will  be  the  fate  of  the  Bill,  and  that  they 
have  made  up  their  minds  to  reproduce  that  Bill,  or 
to  bring  forward  another  early  next  year.  You 
will  see  therefore  that  I  don't  think  that  we  are 
likely  to  come  to  an  election  in  Kent  at  an  early 
period. 

"  My  opinion  is  that  the  county  of  Kent  will  not 
be  satisfied  unless  Sir  E.  Knatchbull  is  its  member. 
Who  the  other,  or  the  others,  ought  to  be  is  a 
question  with  which  I  am  not  sufficiently  informed 
to  deal.  But  the  information  which  I  have  given 
you  of  the  state  of  the  public  mind  here  will 
suggest  to  you  the  course  which  it  would  be  most 
expedient  to  pursue  to  influence  the  public  mind  in 
Kent. — Believe  me,  ever  yours  most  sincerely, 

Wellington," 


78      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

It  had  been  proposed  to  establish  in  Kent  con- 
stitutional societies  in  order  to  hold  the  party  well 
together — whatever  the  fate  of  the  pending  measure 
might  be ;  and  I  wrote  to  the  Duke  on  the  subject. 
Here  is  his  answer  : 

"London,  Julyi,  1831. 

"  My  dear  Sir, — I  quite  concur  in  all  that  you 
suggest  as  steps  to  be  taken,  with  the  exception  of 
the  formation  of  societies.  We  must  never  forget 
the  Roman  Catholic  Association  in  Ireland,  or  its 
various  modifications  and  forms.  There  is  nothing 
so  easy  as  to  give  a  society  a  constitutional  title, 
and  to  hold  out  for  it  the  most  beneficent  objects, 
and  then  to  turn  it  to  the  most  mischievous  pur- 
poses. Those  who  have  not  had  to  deal  with  these 
mischievous  societies  are  not  aware,  as  we  hacks 
are,  of  all  that  can  be  doDe  with  them.  I  don't 
think  that  I  could  belong  to  one  that  had  the  most 
innocent  views  and  objects. 

"  You  allude  to  the  general  policy  of  the  Govern- 
ment. This,  if  there  exist  any  policy  apart  from 
the  Government,  is  a  very  large  question.  The 
distilling  from  molasses  is  a  bad  precedent,  and  will 
have  the  effect  which  you  predicate,  but  they  have 
not  prepared  the  measure.  They  refer  it  for 
inquiry  to  a  Committee  of  the  House  of  Commons ; 
that  is  to  say,  throw  the  responsibility  from  their 
own  shoulders.  The  Irish  Arms  Act  is  a  measure 
which  we  ought  to  support,  but  it  is  quite  incon- 
sistent with  their  representations  of  the  state  of 


THE   DUKE    ON    THE   CRISIS  79 

Ireland,  and  their  views  of  Government  in  that 
country  as  held  out  to  the  public. 

"  In  respect  to  their  foreign  affairs,  they  will  un- 
doubtedly have  a  general  war  in  Europe,  out  of 
which  it  will  be  scarcely  possible  for  this  country  to 
keep  itself  I  attribute  this  to  their  flirtation 
with  France,  and  with  the  war  party  there,  and  to 
the  want  of  confidence  in  the  allies,  and  in  the 
peace  party  in  France  and  Belgium,  and  to  the 
views  and  conduct  of  this  country,  which  has  been 
occasioned  by  the  course  which  our  ministers  have 
followed.  They  have  not  advanced  one  step  in  the 
settlement  of  Belgium  since  the  30th  November 
1830. 

"We  are  on  the  eve  of  an  attack  upon  Portugal  by 
France,  which  must  terminate  in  our  interference, 
or  in  the  subjugation  of  Portugal  by  France.— 
Believe  me,  etc.  Wellington." 

"Canterbury,  July  14,  1831. 
"  My  Lord  Duke, — I  am  so  far  on  my  way  home 
from  Sir  Edward  Knatchbull's,  whither  I  went 
yesterday  for  the  purpose  of  pressing  upon  him  the 
necessity  of  moving  in  times  like  these,  and  taking 
a  lead  in  the  matters  about  which  I  formerly  wrote 
to  you.  I  found  him  as  usual,  doubting,  hesitating, 
distrustful  whether  we  should  do  more  harm  than 
good,  but  at  last  I  succeeded  in  showing  him  that 
if  we  do  nothing,  we  must  go  to  the  wall ;  and 
should  our  efforts  on  the  present  occasion  fail,  we 


80       REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

we  can  only  go  to  the  wall  at  last.  The  result  has 
been  that  he  pledged  himself  to  move  heaven  and 
earth  in  the  good  cause,  and  the  following  is  the 
course  which  we  propose  to  pursue. 

"There  is  to  be  a  large  yeomanry  meeting  at 
Eastwell  Park  next  week.  Sir  Edward  has  assured 
me  that  he  will  seize  the  opportunity  to  organise  a 
regular  system  of  petitions.  The  county  is  to  be 
divided  by  parishes  into  so  many  districts,  and  from 
these  will  be  sent  up  simultaneously  such  a  load  of 
petitions  as  you  have  not  received  for  a  very  long 
time.  In  addition  to  this,  a  declaration  will  be 
drawn  up  to  the  effect  that  we  are  determined, 
with  our  influence,  our  lives,  and  our  property,  to 
defend  the  Constitution,  the  King,  the  Lords,  and 
Commons.  And  the  very  day  after  you  throw  out 
the  Bill,  we  will  collect  all  the  signatures  we  can 
and  give  it  publication.  The  idea  of  forming  a 
constitutional  society  is  abandoned  in  deference  to 
your  Grace's  opinion.  You  know  my  opinion  of 
Knatchbull,  but  let  me  add  this :  though  difficult  to 
move,  and  wavering  till  his  mind  is  made  up,  once 
he  comes  to  a  determination,  there  is  no  man  more 
obstinate.  I  do  not  therefore  at  all  doubt  but  that 
he  will,  in  the  present  instance,  give  us  all  the 
assistance  which  his  unquestionable  influence  in 
the  county  can  afford. 

"  So  much  for  local  politics,  and  now  a  few  words 
on  general  matters.  We  walked  out  after  dinner 
into  the  garden,  where,  having  first  locked  the  door, 


SIR  EDWARD   KNATCHBULL  81 

he  opened  his  mind  to  me  freely  on  the  aspect  of 
affairs.  We  spoke,  of  course,  of  the  possibility  of 
a  change  of  ministers,  etc.,  and  I  gather  from  him 
that  he  is  ready  to  render  every  assistance  in  his 
power  to  your  Grace,  personally  ;  indeed,  he  writes 
by  this  post  to  all  his  friends  in  other  counties  to 
give  in  their  unequivocal  adherence  to  you.  So  far, 
so  good,  for  it  is  beyond  dispute  that,  up  to  this 
moment,  the  recollections  of  the  Catholic  Relief 
Bill  have  operated  cruelly  in  dividing  the  Con- 
servative i^arty.  We  talked  next  of  men  likely  to 
take  office  in  an  administration  of  which  your  Grace 
might  be  the  head,  and  I  gathered  that  he  would 
desire  some  place  in  the  Cabinet.  I  think  it  right 
to  tell  you  all  this,  because  events  may  occur 
which  shall  render  such  knowledge  useful,  and  I 
quite  believe  that  you  will  not  find  any  man  more 
ready  to  adopt  implicitly  your  views,  in  case  such 
an  arrangement  should  be  effected.  I  need  not  add 
that  I  neither  did  nor  could  pretend  to  hold 
towards  him  any  other  than  the  most  general 
language. 

"  I  hope  that  I  shall  find,  when  I  go  home, 
a  letter  from  your  Grace  announcing  that  the 
arrangement  in  favour  of  Mr.  Grove  Price  is  com- 
plete. I  am  sure  he  will  be  most  useful  at  the 
present  moment. — Believe  me,  etc., 

G.  R.  Gleig." 


82       REMINISCENCES  OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

"London,  July  16,  1831. 

"  My  dear  Sir, — I  have  received  your  letter  of 
the  14th  this  morning.  I  cannot  yet  tell  you  that 
I  have  arranged  the  affair  for  Mr.  Price.  I  pressed 
it  again  strongly  yesterday,  but  it  is  not  settled. 

"You  can  judge  as  vrell  as  I  can  of  the  state  of 
the  Reform  question  in  Parliament.  The  ministers 
are  beat  in  argument.  There  is  scarely  a  member 
who  speaks  on  any  part  of  the  subject,  who  does 
not  state  his  apprehensions  of  some  part  or  other 
of  the  Bill.  But  the  majority  still  adhere  by  their 
votes  to  the  whole  of  it,  each  individual  declaring 
that,  bad  as  the  plan  is,  it  is  necessary  to  adopt  it. 
The  case  of  Alderman  Thompson  is  that  of  more 
than  one-half  of  the  members  of  the  present 
Parliament. 

"  They  dare  not  vote  according  to  the  sugges- 
tions of  their  own  judgment  after  discussion;  they 
are  sent  as  delegates  for  a  particular  purpose  under 
particular  instructions,  and  not  members  of  Parlia- 
ment sent  to  deliver  it  de  arduis  regni.  Whether 
petitions  presented  at  this  moment  would  turn 
these  delegates  into  members  of  Parliament,  is  more 
than  I  can  say. 

"  I  think  it  scarcely  possible  that  the  Bill  can  be 
out  of  the  House  of  Commons'  in  the  month  of  July. 
This  being  the  case,  petitions  in  August  would  be 
in  time.  I  should  say  that  I  would  not  move  in 
respect  to  petitions  to  the  House  of  Lords  till  the 


THE   MILITARY  AND    POLITICS  83 

time  should  approach  when  the  Bill  would  come 
under  discussion.  The  person  who  was  to  present 
such  petitions  would,  of  course,  be  able  to  choose 
the  moment.  But  if  once  voted  and  signed  in  the 
county,  we  must  not  suppose  that  our  adversaries 
would  be  so  supine  as  not  to  set  in  motion  all 
the  means  of  getting  counter-petitions,  and  even  to 
create  agitation  in  the  county. 

*'  From  what  I  hear  from  all  parts  of  the  country, 
I  should  say  that  the  feeling  is  the  same  as  it  is  in 
Kent.  It  is  doubtful  whether  they  are  as  ready  to 
declare  themselves.  But  an  example  may  do  a  good 
deal.  I  should  doubt  any  prorogation  of  Parlia- 
ment till  the  Reform  Bills  are  decided.  If  the 
Government  are  not  prepared  to  meet  the  diffi- 
culties in  their  House  of  Lords,  they  will  probably 
adjourn  both  Houses. — Ever  yours  most  sincerely, 

Wellington." 

"London,  July  17,  1831. 

"  My  dear  Sir, — Since  I  wrote  to  you  yesterday, 
it  occurs  to  me  that  there  is  one  part  of  your  letter 
to  which  I  ought  to  have  adverted  in  detail, 
and  upon  which  I  said  nothing.  It  relates  to 
the  meeting  of  the  yeomanry  at  Eastwell  Park. 
As  Lord-Lieutenant  of  Hampshire  I  have  been 
under  the  necessity  of  desiring  the  commanding 
officers  of  some  of  the  troops  of  yeomanry  to  refrain 
from  addressing  their  troops  as  military  bodies  on 
political  subjects,  and  even  of  talking  of  politics  to 


84       REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

the  men  at  all.  I  desired  them  to  point  out  to  the 
yeomanry  that  their  duty  is  to  obey ;  that  the 
sphere  of  their  service  would  probably  be  to  pre- 
serve the  peace  of  the  country  in  aid  of  the  civil 
powers,  and  that  their  duty  must  be  performed 
whatever  may  be  the  policy  of  the  Govern- 
ment and  the  legislation  on  any  particular 
question,  such  as  the  reform  of  Parliament. 

"At  the  time  this  doctrine  was  circulated,  the 
stream  of  opinion  in  the  country  was  running  in 
favour  of  reform,  while  that  of  Parliament  was  sup- 
posed to  be  against  the  Bill  in  particular,  but  pro- 
bably against  any  reform.  Since  that  time  I  happen 
to  know  that  the  attention  of  the  Government  has 
been  drawn  to  the  subject  by  an  address  by  Lady 
Verulam  to  a  corps  of  yeomanry  in  Hertfordshire, 
in  which  her  ladyship  hoped  they  would  protect 
her  and  the  property  of  the  country  against  the 
emissaries  of  the  new  opinions,  or  some  such 
sentiment. 

"  The  Secretary  of  State  was  much  displeased 
with  this  speech,  and  said  what  is  true  enough, 
that  Parliament  would  be  very  unwilling  to  defray 
the  expense  attending  these  corps  of  yeomanry  if 
it  was  supposed  they  were  to  be  arrayed  against 
the  opinion  of  Parliament.  This  statement  will 
show  you  the  diflSculty  of  the  case,  and  how  import- 
ant it  is  on  every  view  of  the  subject  that  the 
yeomanry,  as  troops,  should  not  be  addressed  upon 
it,  or  be  called  upon  to  express  themselves.    Indeed, 


THE    MILITARY    AND    POLITICS  85 

I  should  say  that  if  the  meeting  at  Eastwell  Park 
is  one  of  the  yeomanry  for  the  purpose  of  exercise 
as  troops,  that  opportunity  should  not  be  taken 
of  addressing  them  at  all  on  political  subjects.  I 
wish  that  you  would  consider  all  this,  and  make  the 
use  of  it  that  you  think  desirable. — Ever  yours, 

Wellington." 

"  London, /w^y/  18,  1831. 

"  My  dear  Sir, — I  enclose  a  letter  I  wrote  to 
you  yesterday,  and  wished  to  send  by  yesterday's 
mail,  but  Lord  Fitzroy  Somerset,  who  was  to  have 
sent  it,  was  out  of  the  way.  I  had  another  con- 
versation yesterday  about  Mr.  Price's  seat.  It  is 
wonderful  that  the  persons  who  have  the  return 
of  boroughs  in  their  hands  should  be  so  anxious  as 
they  are  to  return  young  men  of  family.  The 
greatest  difficulty  I  have  is  to  keep  my  son  Charles 
out  of  their  hands ;  they  insist  upon  having  him 
rather  than  anybody  else.  However,  I  have  sent 
to  Ireland  in  favour  of  Mr.  George  Price. — Yours, 
etc.,  Wellington." 

"Ash,  near  Wingham,  July  19,  1831. 
"  My  Lord  Duke, — I  have  received  your  Grace's 
letter  of  the  17th  and  18th,  and  you  may  depend 
upon  my  doing  what  I  can  to  hinder  any  rash 
speech  from  being  spoken ;  but  with  Lord  Win- 
chelsea  at  the  head  of  the  meeting,  it  would  be 
rash  to  make  sure  of  moderation  and  judgment.     I 


86       REMINISCENCES   OF    DUKE  OF   WELLINGTON 

hope,  however,  that  he  will  be  kept  within  bounds ; 
and  as  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  hitherto  the 
subject  of  politics  has  been  avoided  by  the  officers 
in  their  intercourse  with  the  men,  I  see  no  reason 
why  it  should  be  introduced  now.  Still,  as  I  have 
just  said,  nobody  can  answer  for  the  event,  and  it 
is  rendered  doubly  doubtful  in  consequence  of  the 
arrangements  made.  The  yeomanry  are  to  receive 
their  colours  on  Thursday,  with  a  speech  from  Lady 
Winchelsea.  It  is  a  mere  toss  up  whether  her 
ladyship  shall  desire  to  emulate  Lady  Verulam  or 
avoid  the  rock  on  which  the  latter  has  split.  I 
need  scarcely  add  that  it  is  not  the  intention  of  Sir 
Edward  Knatchbull,  or  anybody  else  with  whom 
I  am  acquainted,  to  say  a  word  to  the  yeomanry 
on  any  topic  whatever.  We  shall  merely  avail 
ourselves  of  a  numerous  assemblage  of  leading 
persons  in  the  county  to  pave  the  way  for  future 
and  simultaneous  action. 

"  I  am  going  to  hazard  an  opinion  and  to  ask 
a  question  or  two,  which  your  Grace  will  either 
answer  or  not  as  you  see  proper.  It  is  evident 
that  the  Bill  will  come  before  your  House  with  all 
its  deformities.  How  do  you  intend  to  deal  with 
it  ?  Are  you  strong  enough  to  throw  it  out  ?  and 
if  so,  what  tactics  wiU  be  pursued  ? 

"  There  are  two  modes  of  dealing  with  the  Bill. 
Assuming  the  Conservative  party  to  be  true  to 
itself  and  sufficiently  powerful,  you  may  either 
reject  it  at  the  second  reading,  thus  taking  all  the 


THE  HOUSE  OF  LORDS  AND  THE  BILL     87 

odium  on  yourselves,  or  you  may  permit  it  to  go 
into  Committee,  and  destroy  it  then  in  detail.  If 
you  adopt  the  latter  course,  you  must  be  prepared 
to  manufacture  out  of  its  ruins  a  Bill  of  your  own, 
which  will  necessarily  lead  to  a  conference  between 
the  two  Houses.  No  result  will  follow  such  con- 
ference, and  so  the  amended  Bill,  being  brought 
back  to  the  lower  House  exactly  as  you  have  drawn 
it,  and  being  there  condemned,  the  blame  of  re- 
jection will  possibly  be  shared  between  the  two 
Houses.  It  is  not  for  me  to  offer  an  opinion  in 
such  a  case,  but  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  there 
are  many  timid  persons  whom  a  direct  refusal  of 
the  measure  by  the  Lords  would  frighten  out  of 
their  senses,  but  who,  if  they  were  led  to  believe  in 
a  disposition  on  the  part  of  the  Lords  to  give  the 
subject  due  consideration,  would  give  them  a  hearty 
support.  Now,  if  I  am  right,  and  I  think  that  I 
am  not  wrong,  this  latter  device  may  be  at  least 
worthy  of  consideration. 

"  I  am  not  surprised  at  the  anxiety  expressed 
to  have  a  son  of  your  Grace  as  member  for  any 
borough ;  but  I  do  lament,  on  many  accounts,  that 
the  mere  qualification  of  good  family  should  be 
rated  so  highly.  It  is  not  impossible  that  this  fact 
may  have  contributed,  with  other  causes,  to  the 
present  madness.  I  will  inform  your  Grace  of  all 
that  occurs  at  East  well  Park. — Believe  me,  etc., 

"  G.  B.  Gleig." 


88       REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

"Ash,  near  Wingham,  July  22,  1831. 

"  My  Lord  Duke, — The  yeomanry  meeting  went 
off  on  the  whole  extremely  well.  Lady  Winchelsea's 
speech,  if  not  remarkable  for  any  other  quality,  had 
at  least  the  merit  of  not  pressing  upon  the  notice 
of  the  men  any  particular  views  with  reference  to 
disputed  questions,  and  I  am  happy  to  add  that, 
neither  in  the  field  nor  at  the  dinner,  was  the  subject 
of  the  Reform  Bill  introduced.  I  am  led  to  beheve, 
moreover,  that  the  whole  thing  has  done  good. 
Though  politics  were  ^visely  left  out  of  the  toasts, 
it  was  evident,  from  the  manner  in  which  the 
names  of  individuals  were  received — your  Grace's, 
for  example,  as  connected  with  the  mihtary  glories 
of  the  country — that  the  feeling  among  the  yeomen 
themselves  was  favourable  to  the  Conservative 
principle.  Lord  Winchelsea  gave  your  health  with 
great  apparent  cordiality,  and  it  was  drunk  with 
enthusiasm. 

"Writing  unreservedly  to  your  Grace,  as  I 
venture  to  do,  I  feel  bound  to  state  that  it  is  to 
you  personally  that  the  Tories  of  this  county  look 
as  their  head.  Of  Sir  Robert  Peel  there  is  a 
decided  distrust.  I  had  almost  said  that  the 
feeling  bordered  upon  hostility,  and,  as  far  as  I 
can  learn,  the  same  feeling  prevails  elsewhere  than 
in  Kent. 

"  Our  Radical  newspapers,  our  county  papers  I 
mean,  have  unwisely  for  themselves  begun  a  series 


A    CONFIDENTIAL   LETTER  89 

of  attacks  upon  the  yeomanry.     We  shall  not  fail 
to  turn  these  to  account. — Believe  me,  etc., 

"  G.  R.  Gleig." 

"London,  July  23,  1831. 
"  My  dear  Sir, — I  have  received  your  letter  of 
the  22nd.  I  am  convinced  that  the  line  which  I 
told  you  yesterday  that  I  should  follow  in  the 
House  of  Lords  is  the  best,  even  if  the  object 
should  be  ultimately  to  secure  a  moderate  reform. 
At  all  events  I  could  not  follow  any  other.  I  am 
aware  that  there  exist  great  prejudices  and  strong 
dislikes  against  Sir  Robert  Peel. — Believe  me,  etc., 

*'  Wellington." 

"London,  July  30,  1831. 

^'Private  and  confidential. 

"  My  dear  Sir, — I  wish  to  draw  your  attention 
and  that  of  your  friends  in  Kent  to  what  is  passing 
in  Parliament,  and  to  the  threats  of  the  interfer- 
ence of  the  Common  Hall  of  the  City  of  London, 
the  Birmingham  unions,  etc.,  etc. 

"There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  deliberations  of 
the  House  of  Commons  have  opened  the  eyes  of 
the  public  to  the  real  nature  of  the  Bill  under  dis- 
cussion. I  wish  that  you  would  consider  whether 
it  would  not  be  possible  for  the  gentlemen  of  Kent 
to  come  forward  in  case  the  Common  Hall  should 
interfere,  or  the  Birmingham,  or  any  other  of  these 
Radical  unions. 


90      REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

"  I  would  propose  that  they  should  state  no 
opinion  upon  reform  in  general  or  upon  the  Bill, 
but  declare  that  they  will  support  Parliament  in 
its  deliberative  functions. 

'*  I  think  that  something  of  this  kind  might  be  of 
use.  I  write  into  Hampshire  to  inquire  whether 
anything  of  the  same  kind  might  be  done  there. 
If  we  can  succeed,  it  is  very  desirable  that  we 
should  proceed  with  secrecy,  otherwise  we  might 
alarm  our  antagonists,  and  they  would  stop  the 
Common  Hall. — Believe  me,  etc.,  etc., 

"  Wellington." 

"Ash,  near  Wingham,  July  31,  1831. 
"  My  Lord  Duke, — I  have  written  by  this  post 
to  Sir  Edward  Bering  a  confidential  letter  on  the 
subject  of  your  Grace's  communication.  To-morrow 
morning  I  will  set  out  for  Sir  Edward  Knatchbull 
in  order  to  press  the  matter  upon  him,  and  I  have 
requested  Sir  Brook  Bridges  and  one  or  two  others 
to  dine  with  me  to-morrow  on  my  return,  and  I 
trust  that  we  shall  succeed.  I  have  suggested  the 
measure  as  one  of  prudence,  and  gone  only  so  far 
as  to  say  that  I  have  reason  to  believe  it  will  be 
acceptable  to  the  heads  of  the  Conservative  party. 
— Believe  me,  etc.,  G.  R.  Gleig." 

"London,  August  3,  1831. 
"  My  dear  Sir, — By  reference  to  the  papers  you 
will  see  that  the  Speaker  has  put  down  the  attempt 


QUESTION    OF   PETITIONS  91 

to  petition  by  the  Radicals  of  Bristol  and  the 
Association  of  Birmingham,  and  that  at  a  meeting  of 
some  of  the  Livery  yesterday,  it  was  determined 
that  they  should  postpone  the  meeting  of  the 
Common  Hall,  and  meet  themselves  at  the  end  of 
a  week,  and  consider  whether  they  will  call  a 
meeting  of  the  Common  Hall  if  it  should  be  thought 
necessary. 

"It  is  quite  obvious  that  they  find  that  the 
public  are  not  prepared  for  the  system  of  bully 
proposed,  and  that  it  would  do  more  harm  than 
good  to  the  cause  of  confusion.  Under  these 
circumstances  I  confess  that  I  should  doubt  the 
expediency  of  coming  forward  at  all.  It  would  be 
like  firing  a  great  gun  at  a  sparrow,  which  is  not 
wise,  and  ought  to  be  avoided. 

"  I  think  that  the  putting  down  these  meetings  is 
an  evidence  that  the  ministers  are  pretty  confident 
that  they  will  carry  their  measure,  and  it  might  be 
desirable  to  get  some  declaration  of  the  country 
against  them ;  but  still  I  should  say  that,  upon  the 
whole,  matters  are  not  ripe. — Believe  me,  etc.,  etc., 

"  Wellington." 

"Ash,  near  Wingham,  August  4,  1831. 
"  My  Lord  Duke, — Your  Grace's  letter  has  in 
some  degree  anticipated  one  which  I  had  intended 
to  write  as  soon  as  I  perceived  the  issue  of  the 
Radical  movement.  It  struck  me  that,  under  such 
circumstances,  it  would  be  prudent  to  lie  still,  and 


92      REMINISCENCES    OF  DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

I  am  happy  to  find  that  my  judgment  was  correct. 
No  steps  of  importance  have  been  taken.  Our 
plan  has  been  communicated  only  to  a  few  indi- 
viduals worthy  of  trust,  and  we  shall  rest  upon  our 
oars  till  you  desire  us  to  go  to  work  again. — 
Believe  me,  etc.,  etc.,  G.  R.  Gleig." 


CHAPTER    VI 

All  this  while  unceasing  efforts  were  made  to 
obtain  the  support  of  at  least  one  morning  journal 
in  London.  The  Standard  indeed  still  supported 
the  party,  and  John  Bull  was  at  once  faithful  and 
effective ;  but  apart  from  these  not  a  newspaper, 
whether  published  in  the  morning  or  the  evening 
or  once  a  week,  but  wrote  up  the  great  ministerial 
measure,  and  did  its  best  to  write  down  the 
characters  of  all  who  opposed  it.  There  lies  before 
me  a  whole  pile  of  letters  on  this  subject,  of  which 
I  shall  transcribe  only  a  few,  because  the  matter 
will  be  brought  more  appropriately  under  con- 
sideration when  I  come  to  speak  of  the  great 
Duke's  contemporaries.  One  attempt  to  secure 
the  support  of  the  Morning  Herald  had  failed, 
under  circumstances  hereafter  to  be  stated. 
Negotiations  were  then  set  on  foot  to  purchase  the 
Ledger,  in  which  an  active  part  was  taken  by  Lord 
Mahon,  while  Billy  Holmes  was  treating  for  the 
management  of  the  Albion.  It  is  to  them,  on  our 
second  endeavour  to  secure  the  Herald,  that  the 
following  correspondence  refers. 

I  had  been  called  up  to  London  to  take  part  in 


94      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

the  deliberations  of  those  to  whom  the  management 
of  this  affair  was  entrusted,  and  after  once  or 
twice  conferring  personally  with  the  Duke,  returned 
home,  leaving  this  letter  behind  me. 

"Athen/EUM,  Sept.  9,  1831. 
"  Private. 

"  The  affair  of  the  Ledger  is  in  train,  and  shall  be 
so  arranged  that  not  a  penny  shall  pass  into  the 
hands  of  the  other  party  till  our  object  has  been 
accomplished.    In  the  meanwhile  we  must  get  a  fund 

ready,  for  Mr.  J is  not,   I  suspect,  disposed 

to  disgorge  his  £1000.  I  have  not  heard  from  him 
since  I  sent  him  the  note  of  which  I  showed  you 
the  copy.  I  have  settled  with  Lord  Mahon  that 
Mr.  Clark  shall  have  access  to  him  in  case  of  need. 
This  will  completely  keep  you.  Sir  Henry  Hardinge, 
and  myself  out  of  sight,  and  Lord  Mahon  is  fully  to 
be  trusted. 

"  With  respect  to  the  Albion,  Lord  M.  and  I  have 
remonstrated  with  Holmes,  and  hope  to  get  it  into 
the  hands  of  one  of  the  cleverest  fellows  in  London, 
Dr.  Maginn,  the  co-editor  with  Giffard  of  the 
Standard.  So  much  for  our  efforts  with  the  press, 
after  which  the  question  naturally  arises,  Will  all, 
supposing  them  to  succeed  beyond  our  wishes, 
avail  ?  I  am  afraid  not.  I  much  fear,  from  what  I 
hear  and  see  around  me,  that  there  is  such  an 
obstinate  perversity  of  intellect  in  a  large  portion 


A   SUGGESTION   FROM   "  BLACKWOOD  "  95 

of  the  community,  that  nothing  short  of  proving  to 
them  how  faithless  their  leaders  are,  even  to  one 
another,  will  have  the  smallest  efiPect.  Even  the 
rejection  of  the  Bill  by  the  Lords  will  be  of 
little  use,  unless  it  be  accompanied  by  other 
arrangements. 

"  Have  you  looked  into  the  last  number  o?  Black- 
ivood,  and  observed  what  is  said  there  in  the 
*  Noctes  Ambrosianse '  ?  The  speaker  is  made  to  say 
that  the  country  might  yet  be  saved  were  Lord 
Brougham  and  Peel  cordially  to  unite.  Now  I 
confess  that  the  same  idea  had  occurred  to  me  ever 
since  I  was  made  aware  of  the  overtures  that 
were  made  to  your  Grace.  I  am  aware  how  pain- 
ful it  must  be  to  a  mind  like  yours  to  entertain 
the  thought  of  acting  with  such  a  colleague ;  but  if 
with  so  much  at  stake  there  be  no  chance  of 
breaking  up  the  present  Cabinet,  except  by  en- 
couraging them  to  betray  one  another,  even  your 
high  sense  of  honour  might,  I  think,  come  under 
the  influence  of  necessity.  For  it  is  not  the  mere 
acts  of  the  Cabinet  that  we  have  to  consider,  but 
rather  the  new  doctrines  which  the  people  tire 
encouraged  to  imbibe  under  their  guidance. 

"  Do  not  hesitate  to  send  for  me,  whenever  I 
can  be  of  use,  but  unless  really  wanted,  I  could 
wish  to  remain  quietly  in  the  country  for  a  week 
or  two.  I  have  been  so  often  absent  from  my 
parish  of  late,  a  thing  not  usual  with  me,  that  I 
begin  to  fear  I  may  lose  something  of  the  moral 


96       REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE   OF    WELLINGTON 

influence  there  which  I  have  heretofore  exercised. — 
Believe  me,  etc.,  G.  R.  Gleig." 

"London,  Sept.  17,  1831. 

"  I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  9th,  when 
I  was  out  of  town  the  end  of  last  week.  I  have 
since  had  a  family  misfortune,  which,  it  is  true, 
has  long  been  expected.  I  have  been  out  of  town 
again,  and  I  returned  last  night  to  resume  the 
thread  of  affairs, 

"  There  are  such  heavy  calls  for  money  for 
matters  which  press  more  urgently  than  those 
upon  which  we  conversed,  that  I  am  afraid  that  I 
must  postpone  for  the  present  the  consideration  of 
the  latter.  The  subscriptions  do  not  come  in.  I 
am  afraid  that,  after  all,  we  shall  fail. 

"  I  have  two  objections  to  the  course  which  you 
propose.  The  first  is  one  of  conscience.  I  could 
not  deceive  any  man.  I  prefer  another  to  Lord  B., 
whether  as  a  debater  in  Parliament,  an  officer  in 
a  court  of  justice,  or  a  colleague,  or  an  honest  man. 
The  second  is,  that  if  there  was  no  such  preference, 
I  could  have  no  confidence  in  that  gentleman.  I 
cannot  pretend  that  which  I  do  not  intend.  All 
this  may  be  very  foolish.  I  may  not  be  equal  to 
the  difficulties  of  the  times,  but  I  cannot  help  it. 
I  believe  that  in  these  times,  as  in  all  times, 
honesty  is  the  best  policy,  and  adherence  to 
principle  the  only  true  guide  for  one's  conduct. — 
Believe  me,  etc.,  Wellington." 


THE  duke's  confidence  97 

"Ash,  near  Wingham,  September  18,  1831. 

"  I  do  not  know  whether  the  line  which  you  have 
made  up  your  mind  to  follow  is  that  which,  at  a 
crisis  like  the  present,  and  amid  such  actors  as 
crowd  the  stage,  will  lead  to  good ;  but  this  I  do 
know,  that  it  ought  to  lead  to  good.  One  thing, 
too,  is  quite  certain,  that  if  it  were  possible  to 
increase  the  respect  in  which  your  Grace  is  already 
held,  the  sentiments  expressed  in  your  letter  of 
yesterday's  date  would  produce  that  effect.  God 
help  us  well  through  our  difficulties,  for  with  such 
a  King  at  the  head  of  affairs,  nothing  short  of  a 
miracle  can  save  us. — Believe  me,  etc., 

"G.  R  Gleig." 

"London,  September  19,  1831. 

"  I  have  received  your  letter  of  yesterday.  I 
never  despair  of  anything,  and  I  think  that  we 
shall  get  through  our  difficulties.  I  am  convinced 
that  I  am  on  the  right  road ;  indeed,  upon  the 
only  road  that  is  practicable. — Believe  me,  etc., 

"  Wellington." 

"  Strathfieldsaye,  October  23,  1831. 

"  I  received  this  morning  your  letter  of  the  21st. 
I  received  one  yesterday  from  Lord  Mahon  upon 
the  same  subject,  in  which  he  told  me  that  he  was 
going  to  dine  with  you.  I  wrote  him  an  answer 
yesterday. 

"  You  have  put  the  question  on  the  right  ground. 


98      REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

Can  I  recommend  this  arrangement  respecting  the 
Morning  Herald  to  those  noblemen  and  gentlemen 
of  the  party  who  have  the  means  and  might  be 
disposed  to  subscribe  for  the  paper  ?  But  I  have 
reason  to  believe  that  the  Morning  Herald  could 
not  be  sold.  There  is  a  Thwaites,  or  a  person  of 
some  other  name,  with  a  claim  to  a  share  in  the 
concern,  who  is  a  minor.  The  affair  will  get  into 
Chancery,  and  in  all  probability  all  concerned  will 
be  blown  upon  as  well  as  lose  their  money. 

"  But  you  will  say  that  is  the  business  of  the 
gentlemen  in  the  City  who  are  about  to  buy  the 
newspaper.  We,  the  subscribers,  will  have  nothing 
to  do  but  to  pay  £5000  a  year  and  give  the  tone  to 
the  politics  of  the  paper.  We  must,  as  we  did  in 
the  late  proposed  arrangement,  give  a  sum  in 
advance,  which  sum  would  be  lost  if  the  question 
respecting  the  paper  gets  into  Chancery.  It  may 
not  be  lost  as  the  last  sum  was,  as  I  believe  Mr 
Mallalieu  to  be  an  honest  man.  But  if  we  en- 
courage that  arrangement  with  our  eyes  open  to 
the  risk,  we  must  stand  by  some  of  the  loss  result- 
ing from  it,  and  our  advances  will  be  the  smallest 
sacrifice  expected  from  us.  But  this  is  not  the 
only  objection  which  I  have  to  the  proposed 
arrangement.  Certain  gentlemen  propose  to  pur- 
chase the  property  of  this  paper  and  to  alter  the 
tone  of  its  politics.  Is  this  wise  or  otherwise 
in  the  view  of  men  who  intend  to  profit  by  the 
speculation?      Will  the  paper  extend  its  circula- 


**  THE  MORNING    HERALD  "  99 

tion  ?  Will  it  remain  where  it  is  ?  Will  its 
circulation  fall  off?  In  the  two  former  cases  the 
real  demand  upon  us  would  be  but  small,  and  we 
might  satisfy  it  probably  without  any  extensive 
subscription.  In  the  last  supposed  case  we  ought 
to  pay  in  proportion  to  the  loss  which  the  pro- 
prietors would  sustain  by  the  decrease  of  the 
circulation  of  the  paper  and  of  the  profits.  But 
if  we  do  this,  must  we  not  engage  for  more  than 
a  year  or  even  two  years  ?  Who  will  make  such 
engagement  ?  Observe  that  any  subscription  is 
demanded  only  because  it  is  supposed  that  the 
tone  of  politics  assumed  by  the  paper  will  occasion 
a  diminution  of  the  number  of  its  readers. 

**  In  any  view  of  the  case,  is  not  the  sum  of  £5000 
very  large  ?  I  know  that  we  were  about  to  pay 
£6000  for  a  year,  but  we  might  discontinue  when 
we  pleased,  giving  a  short  notice.  Our  payments 
were  to  be  monthly  after  the  first  two  months, 
and  to  be  made  only  after  the  performance  of  the 
contract.  In  this  last  case,  however  expensive, 
and  with  our  eyes  open  to  its  enormity,  we  should 
have  seen  our  way  at  every  step,  but  in  this  recently 
proposed  course  we  proceed  entirely  in  the  dark. 
I  don't  think  that  I  ought  to  approve  of  such  an 
arrangement  with  a  view  to  its  adoption  by  others. 

"  The  mob  could  not  get  at  the  pictures  in  my 
gallery.  They  destroyed  Lady  Lyndhurst's  picture 
in  my  room  below-stairs. — Believe  me,  etc., 

"  Wellington." 


100      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

Our  efforts  to  secure  the  direct  support  of  some 
of  the  London  newspapers  were  not  very  success- 
ful. In  the  county  we  were  more  fortunate.  The 
Kentish  Gazette,  much  read  by  the  middle  classes,  was 
gained  over  for  a  while,  and  when  a  falling  off  in  its 
circulation  caused  it  to  change  its  tone,  a  new  paper 
was  started  under  the  management  of  Mr.  Mudford, 
formerly  of  the  Courier ^  which  still,  I  believe,  advo- 
cates constitutional  principles.  But  the  tide  ran 
too  strong  against  us,  and  the  action  of  the  Lords, 
in  rejecting  the  Bill  on  the  second  reading,  led  the 
way  to  scenes  of  violence  and  confusion  which  have 
long  passed  into  history.  History,  however,  is  not 
quite  fair  in  the  account  which  it  gives  of  this  up- 
heaving. During  the  brief  interval  in  which  all 
government  lay  in  abeyance,  matters  came  to  light 
of  which  history  has  failed  to  take  notice.  Though 
no  secret  is  now  made  of  the  correspondence  between 
Mr.  Attwood  and  Colonel  Napier  and  Evans,  silence 
has  been  completely  preserved  in  regard  to  the 
provision  of  arms  made  by  the  unions  for  a  hundred 
thousand  men,  as  well  as  respecting  the  days  and 
nights  that  were  spent  by  the  leaders  of  these 
unions  in  burning  papers  which,  if  they  fell  into 
the  hands  of  a  Conservative  minister — as  was  at 
one  moment  likely  to  happen — would  have  placed 
more  than  one  eminent  individual  in  the  felon's 
dock.  In  Kent  we  had  no  more  violent  demon- 
stration than  was  manifested  by  the  assemblage  of 
crowds  on  Pennenden  Heath  and  elsewhere  in  order 


THE   DUKE   THREATENED  101 

to  denounce  as  enemies  to  their  country  the  forty 
peers  who  had  presumed  to  think  for  themselves, 
and,  above  all,  their  great  leader,  once  the  idol, 
now  the  enemy,  of  his  country.  But  if  Maid- 
stone and  Canterbury  escaped  the  fate  of  Bristol 
and  Nottingham,  the  acts  of  personal  violence 
against  individuals  were  bandied  about,  one  of 
which,  as  it  came  somewhat  circumstantially  to 
my  own  knowledge,  I  felt  myself  bound  to  com- 
municate to  the  object  of  it.  The  following  is 
the  answer  received  : — 


"London,  November  7,  1831. 

"My  dear  Mr.  Gleig, — I  received  your  letter 
only  yesterday  morning  on  my  road  to  London. 
It  is  my  duty  to  go  to  Walmer  and  to  Dover,  and 
I  am  not  to  be  prevented  from  doing  so  either  by 
threats  of  injury  or  insult.  What  I  always  do  in 
these  cases  is  to  give  information  to  the  magis- 
trate. It  is  his  duty  to  protect  all  his  Majesty's 
subjects,  particularly  those  acting  under  the  King's 
authority,  and  even  to  take  precautions  for  their 
protection,  if  necessary.  It  is  my  opinion  that 
these  secret  informants,  who  will  not  and  probably 
dare  not  come  forward  with  their  information,  do 
more  harm  than  good.  There  is  a  perpetual  gossip 
going  on  in  the  public-houses  upon  all  sorts  of 
plans  of  mischief  Is  it  quite  certain  that  these 
informants  do  not  suggest  the  very  plans  of  which 


102      REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE   OF    WELLINGTON 

they  give  information?  I  intended  to  have  been 
at  Walmer  this  night,  but  a  letter  which  I  sent  to 
announce  my  arrival  did  not  go.  I  shall  therefore 
set  ojff  to-morrow  morning,  and  I  hope  to  come 
early  in  the  day.  I  suspect  that  those  who  will 
attack  me  on  the  road  will  come  rather  the  worst 
out  of  the  contest,  if  there  should  be  one. — Ever 
yours,  etc.,  Wellington." 

Notwithstanding  the  tone  of  this  letter,  I 
thought  it  prudent  to  communicate  privately  with 
a  few  gentlemen  on  whom  I  could  rely,  and  to 
invite  them  to  join  me  in  providing  a  sort  of  body- 
guard for  the  Duke  in  his  progress  from  Sandwich 
to  Walmer.  We  were  six  in  all,  and  each  carried, 
besides  a  heavy  hunting-whip,  pistols  ;  five  men 
to  wait  in  Sandwich,  while  I,  mounting  my  horse, 
rode  back  to  meet  the  Duke  before  he  could  reach 
Ash.  I  found  him  in  his  open  caleche,  provided 
with  a  brace  of  double-barrelled  pistols,  and  having 
his  servant  likewise  armed,  seated  on  the  box.  He 
insisted  on  my  giving  my  horse  to  his  man,  and 
entering  the  carriage  with  him.  But  when  we 
reached  Sandwich,  I  made  the  Duke's  servant 
resume  his  place  on  the  box,  and  while  the  horses 
were  changed,  sent  forward  three  of  my  little  party, 
directing  them  to  avoid  drawing  attention  by 
riding  a  couple  of  hundred  yards  or  more  in  front 
of  the  carriage.  In  case  a  mob  should  be  sighted, 
they  were  to  pull  up  and  wait  till  one  who  rode 


LORD   HARROWBY  103 

after  the  carriage  should  overtake  them.  No  mob 
appeared.  Nor  was  the  Duke's  journey  in  any 
other  way  interfered  with,  so  that  the  escort,  after 
seeing  him  safe  within  the  Castle  grounds,  had  the 
satisfaction  of  feeling  that  they  had  done  what  was 
right,  and  no  blood  was  shed. 

How  the  winter  of  1831-32  was  spent  I  need 
not  here  describe.  While  mobs  burnt  towns  and 
sacked  gentlemen's  houses,  the  King  prorogued 
Parliament,  and  the  Government  made  ready  to 
introduce,  after  a  brief  recess,  a  third  editioji  of  the 
Bill  into  the  House  of  Commons.  It  is  not  to  be 
wonderfed  at  that,  among  the  Lords  who  had  joined 
in  rejecting  the  former  ministerial  measure,  there 
were  those  whom  a  dread  of  greater  evils  induced 
to  consider  whether  the  differences  between  the  two 
parties  in  the  State  might  not  comjDromise.  Two 
noblemen,  both  men  of  undoubted  high  honour  and 
ability,  Lords  Harrowby  and  Wharncliffe,  placed 
themselves  at  the  head  of  what  soon  became  a 
movement.  They  not  only  wrote  circulars  inviting 
their  brother-peers  to  co-operate  with  them,  but 
they  entered  into  negotiations  with  Earl  Grey,  and 
for  a  time  were  deluded  into  the  expectation  that 
he  would  consent  to  modify  his  measure  in  several 
important  particulars.  They  found  him  unyielding, 
yet  persisted  in  their  efforts  to  secure  a  second 
reading  for  their  Bill  as  it  was.  And  persuading 
themselves  that  the  King:  would  in  this  case  refuse 
to   create   peers,   they  counted  on    being   able   to 


104      REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

modify  the  measure  for  themselves.  To  this  policy 
the  Duke  was  thoroughly  opposed.  He  rightly 
argued  that  if  the  King  had  been  weak  enough  to 
agree  to  a  large  creation  of  peers  at  one  stage  of 
the  dispute,  he  could  not  refuse  to  do  the  same  at 
any  other,  at  which  the  Government  might  receive 
a  check ;  and  he  did  his  best  by  writing  to  as  many 
of  his  friends  as  possible  to  secure  their  support 
when  the  day  of  battle  came.  From  me  he  kept 
nothing  back  of  all  that  was  going  on  and  expected, 
and  by  and  by  invited,  me  to  work  with  him.  The 
following  letters  explain  how. 


"London,  Febniary  26,  1832. 

**  My  DEAR  Mr.  Gleig, — I  send  you  Lord 
Harrowby's  letter ;  you  will  see  an  abstract  of  it  and 
some  observations  upon  it  in  the  Times  of  this  day. 
I  don't  think  it  clear  that  much  can  be  done  upon 
it. — Believe  me,  etc.,  Wellington." 


"  Strathfieldsaye,  February  29,  1832. 

"  My  dear  Mr.  Gleig, — I  enclose  a  note  from 
Mr.  Escott  which  is  very  curious.  I  came  here  this 
day.  If  you  should  come  to  London  and  wish  to 
see  me,  I  wish  that  you  would  come  down  here.  A 
coach  comes  from  my  house  in  London  every 
morning  at  nine,  and  arrives  here  at  three. — Believe 
me,  etc.,  Wellington." 


LORD   DOURO  105 

"  Strathfieldsaye,  March  2,  1832. 
"My  dear  Mr.  Gleig, — I  have  received  your 
note  from  Ash,  dated  1st  March.  I  wrote  to  you 
and  suggested  that  you  should  come  here.  I  think 
you  would  do  more  here  in  a  day  than  at  home  in 
a  week.  I  have  no  copy  of  my  letter  here  except- 
ing the  original  one,  which  you  would  never  be 
able  to  make  out. — Believe  me,  etc., 

Wellington." 

The  purpose  for  which  the  Duke  invited  me  to 
visit  him  at  that  time  in  Hampshire  was  that,  out 
of  materials  which  he  could  supply,  I  should  write 
an  answer  to  Lord  Harrowby's  circular,  and  pubHsh 
it  anonymously  as  a  pamphlet.  It  was  impossible 
for  me,  after  all  that  had  passed  between  us,  to 
decline  the  task  thus  suggested.  Indeed,  I  accepted 
the  proposal  at  once,  only  pleading  that  I  might  be 
allowed  to  do  the  job  at  home.  But  the  Duke  was 
urgent,  and  I  did  as  he  wished  me  to  do.  It  would 
scarcely  be  worth  while  to  make  this  record,  had 
not  my  journey  to  Strathfieldsaye  brought  me  face 
to  face  with  my  old  friend,  the  second  Duke,  then 
Lord  Douro,  under  somewhat  novel  circumstances. 
We  had  often  met  at  Walmer  Castle  when  he  com- 
manded the  depot  of  the  second  battalion  of  the 
Rifle  Brigade,  then  quartered  in  Dover,  and  he  had 
been  my  guest  in  the  vicarage  of  Ash,  where  we 
shot  together  over  the  grounds  of  Betshanger,  and 


106       REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

I  gave  him  his  first  lesson  in  fly-fishing  in  the 
little  Stour.  Now  proceeding  to  Apsley  House,  in 
order  to  be  there  taken  up  by  the  coach,  I  found 
that  Lord  Douro  was  in  town,  and,  early  as  the 
hour  was,  had  breakfasted.  I  went  to  his  room 
and  found  him  hard  at  work  on  the  Archduke 
Charles's  Campaigns,  with  a  large  map  of  the  seat 
of  war  on  the  table  before  him,  I  mention  this 
incident  to  show  that,  however  anxious  he  may 
have  been  to  pass  current  as  an  idler,  he  was  at 
that  time  a  student  of  his  own  profession.  Poor 
fellow  !  he  never  did  himself  justice  before  the 
world,  and  the  world  arrived  in  consequence  at 
very  inaccurate  conclusions  respecting  his  tastes 
and  character. 

I  will  say  nothing  here  about  the  pamphlet,  or 
the  circumstances  attendant  on  its  accomplishment, 
for  of  these  notice  may  be  taken  elsewhere.  But 
a  few  words  descriptive  of  the  tone  which  marked 
the  Duke's  conversation  during  my  visit  may 
without  impropriety  be  given,  for,  after  all,  no  pre- 
tence was  made  of  secrecy,  for  which,  indeed,  all 
reason  was  wanting ;  and  had  the  case  been  other- 
wise, I,  who  write  these  lines,  am  the  last  survivor 
of  the  party,  and  shall  have  followed  the  others 
who  have  preceded  me,  before  what  is  written  can 
see  the  light. 

For  the  first  two  days  our  party  consisted, 
besides  the  Duke,  only  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Arbuthnot 
and  Lord  Fitzgerald,  Lord  Charles  Wellesley,  and 


THE   DUKE   ON  GEORGE  IV.  107 

myself.  With  these  the  Duke  seemed  to  consider 
himself  free  from  all  restraint,  and  made  no  secret 
of  the  despondency  with  which  he  contemplated 
the  future  of  the  country.  He  was  not  sparing  in 
his  remarks  on  George  i v. ,  to  whose  lack  of  fidelity 
to  his  ministers  he  attributed  most  of  the  diffi- 
culties which  he  had  been  called  upon  to  meet 
when  in  office.  "  And  there  is  no  excuse  for  him 
as  there  really  is  for  his  successor.  George  iv.  was 
naturally  an  able  man,  and  was  by  no  means  want- 
ing in  knowledge  on  all  subjects,  and  especially 
on  politics.  But  there  was  a  moral  twist  in  him 
which  made  it  impossible  quite  to  believe  what  he 
said  at  the  moment,  and  still  less  to  depend  upon 
his  promises.  The  Duke  of  Cumberland,  though 
neither  as  clever  as  he,  nor  possessing  a  tittle  of  his 
general  knowledge,  had  enormous  influence  over 
him,  simply  because  he  had,  while  the  King  had 
not,  a  strong  will,  and  he  exercised  it  while  he  was 
First  Lord  of  the  Treasury  in  the  most  mischievous 
manner.  But  for  him  the  King  never,  after  con- 
senting to  the  Catholic  Relief  Bill,  w^ould  have 
gone  about  complaining  that  he  had  been  coerced, 
and  thus  blown  the  flame  of  anger  among  the  ultra- 
Tories  which  destroyed  me.  Still  his  death,  when 
it  occurred,  was  a  great  misfortune.  We  could 
have  got  on  with  the  Parliament  which  passed  our 
Bill — ay,  in  spite  of  the  Revolution  in  Paris.  And 
I  am  convinced  that  in  a  short  time  our  mode  of 
dealing  with  Ireland  would  have  healed  all  sores, 


108       REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

and  ensured  for  the  country  a  Liberal- Conservative 
Government  for  many  years.  But  the  King's 
death  rendered  a  dissolution  inevitable — a  serious 
hazard  of  itself ;  and  when,  just  as  the  elections  were 
in  full  career,  the  French  monarchy  fell  before  the 
mob,  there  needed  no  gift  of  prophecy  to  foretell 
that,  let  come  what  might,  there  was  an  end  of  us." 

Mr.  a.  "But  why  did  you  resign  on  a  question 
so  unimportant  as  that  raised  by  Parnell  and 
Knatchbull  ?  There  are  many  precedents  for  sub- 
mitting the  civil  list  to  the  consideration  of  a  com- 
mittee of  the  House  of  Commons.  Why,  knowing 
as  you  did  that  out  of  such  a  scrutiny  you  would 
come  with  flying  colours,  could  you  not  have 
assented  to  their  proposal  ? " 

"  For  two  reasons.  First,  because  we  could  not 
afford  twice  to  avoid  defeat  by  adopting  the 
enemy's  tactics.  Remember  the  Test  and  Corpora- 
tion Acts.  And  next,  because  we  had  Brougham's 
motion  hanging  over  us,  and  we  didn't  care  to  be 
beaten  on  a  question  of  reform." 

Lord  F.  "  True ;  and  we  felt  that  the  Con- 
servative party  was  broken  up,  for  which,  let  me 
add,  we  have  ourselves  a  good  deal  to  answer.  The 
Whigs  have  been  wiser  in  their  generation  than 
their  rivals.  They  never  failed,  whenever  they  had 
the  means,  to  reward  services  rendered  to  their 
cause,  whether  by  public  or  private  patronage. 
We  are  too  pure,  forsooth,  to  act  on  that  line,  and 
now,  see  where  we  are." 


DINNER   TABLE-TALK  109 

Duke.  "  We  are  not  in  a  very  flourishing  con- 
dition, I  allow,  but  I  don't  find  the  cause  of  the 
evil  where  you  do.  I  have  more  experience  in 
public  affairs  than  most  men,  and  you  may  rely 
upon  it,  that  there  never  was  any  country  or  town, 
great  or  small,  or  any  concern,  whether  important 
or  otherwise,  arranged  upon  an  exclusive  party 
principle.  It  may  answer  for  a  time,  it  may  be 
necessary  at  certain  seasons,  but  nothing  can  prosper 
permanently  that  is  so  managed.  To  tell  you  the 
truth,  I  believe  that  their  exclusive  party  partiali- 
ties and  practices,  however  convenient  and  advan- 
tageous to  some  individuals,  are  one  cause  of  the 
failure  of  the  Whigs  as  public  administrators. 
How  they  will  get  on  hereafter,  when  cramped  with 
the  Radicals  as  colleagues,  remains  to  be  seen." 

On  the  third  day,  a  multitude  of  guests  arrived, 
and  the  conversation  at  table,  and  everywhere  else, 
became  more  general.  We  spoke  of  Napoleon  and 
his  marshals  and  of  our  own  generals,  concerning  his 
estimate  of  most  of  whom,  Mr.  Croker,  in  his  Diary, 
has  stereotyped  the  character  of  one  of  our  most 
dashing  commanders,  General  Crawford. 


CHAPTER    VII 

It  was  on  these  terms  that  I  had  the  happiness 
and  honour  to  live  with  the  great  Duke  during  one 
of  the  most  important  eras  in  the  history  of 
England.  When  all  his  endeavours,  first  to  defeat, 
and  by  and  by  to  modify  the  great  measure,  failed, 
our  correspondence  became,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
less  continuous,  yet  did  not  cease  till  circumstances 
hereafter  to  be  mentioned  caused  a  cloud,  though 
not  a  dense  one,  to  arise  between  us.  Never,  to 
the  day  of  his  death,  however,  did  he  cease  to  treat 
me  kindly  as  often  as  we  met,  and  though  unable 
himself  to  advance  me  in  my  profession,  he  was 
indirectly  instrumental  in  bringing  me  to  London, 
on  the  invitation  of  a  Whig  minister.  The  cause 
was  this. 

After  having  taken  part  to  the  best  of  my  ability 
against  reform,  I  was  very  much  surprised  to 
receive  one  morning,  in  February  1834,  a  letter 
from  Lord  John  Russell  offering  me  the  chaplaincy 
of  Chelsea  Hospital.  My  first  impulse  was  at  once 
to  communicate  with  the  Duke,  and  to  ask  for  both 
advice  and  information,  and  in  due  time  I  received 
from  him  the  following  reply  : — 


LORD  JOHN  Russell's  offer     111 

"  Strathfieldsaye,  February  12,  1834. 

"I  don't  think  it  will  be  disagreeable  to  you  or 
to  any  person  to  tell  you  what  I  know  of  your 
appointment. 

"Lord  John  Ptussell  inquired  about  you  from  Lord 
Fitzroy  Somerset,  who  told  him  that  he  would 
apply  to  me  about  you.  The  object  of  the  inquiry 
was  to  know  whether  you  were  a  party  writer.  I 
desired  Lord  Fitzroy  to  tell  Lord  John  that  you, 
as  most  other  good  clergymen  of  the  Church  of 
England,  were  a  zealous  Conservative  politician, 
but  that  I  did  not  believe  you  had  ever  been  a 
party  writer ;  that  when  I  was  in  office  I  was 
anxious  to  promote  you,  on  account  of  your  eccle- 
siastical works,  and  that  I  had  earnestly  urged  on 
you  by  all  means  to  avoid  party  discussions ;  that 
I  never  heard  of  your  having  engaged  in  them, 
and  that  I  firmly  believed  you  had  not.  I  think 
you  had  better  keep  this  anecdote  to  yourself. 

"  I  shall  be  very  sorry  to  lose  your  society  at 
Walmer  Castle,  but  I  hope  that  I  shall  see  you  in 
London. — Believe  me,  etc.,  Wellington." 

I  have  placed  on  record  this  letter,  not  alone  be- 
cause it  is  due  to  the  great  Duke  that  it  should  be 
read  by  others  than  myself,  but  also  because  it  enables 
me  to  place  in  its  true  light  my  own  conduct  under 
somewhat  trying  circumstances.  No  sooner  was  Lord 


112      REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

John  Russell's  offer  to  me  made  public,  than  he 
was  furiously  assailed,  as  well  by  the  more  violent 
members  of  his  supporters  in  Parliament  as  by  the 
Kadical  press  in  London  and  in  the  provinces.  I 
was  described  as  a  party  writer  from  my  earliest 
days — especially  in  Blackwood's  Magazine,  and  as 
the  editor  of  more  than  one  Kentish  newspaper 
— as  a  Tory,  in  short,  of  the  most  rabid  kind,  who 
neglected  his  parish  and  made  enemies  of  his 
parishioners.  Not  aware  of  this  attack,  I  went  to 
London  in  order  to  see  whether  the  chaplaincy 
would  suit  my  purpose  ;  and  having  satisfied  myself 
on  that  head,  I  proceeded,  relying  on  the  informa- 
tion which  the  Duke  had  given  me,  to  wait  upon 
Lord  John.  I  found  him  more  stiff  than  I  had 
anticipated,  and  soon  discovered  the  cause,  for, 
without  expressing  the  slightest  regret  at  what 
had  passed  between  us,  he  told  me  frankly  how 
much  the  rumours  that  had  reached  him  distressed 
him.  A  good  deal  taken  aback,  and  not  forgetful 
of  the  contents  of  the  Duke's  letter,  I  at  once 
proposed  that,  under  the  circumstances,  it  would  be 
best  for  both  of  us  to  consider  the  offer  of  the 
chaplaincy  as  withdrawn,  and  he  went  on  to  say 
it  would,  however,  greatly  relieve  him  if  I  could 
refute  what  he  was  pleased  to  call  these  calumnies. 
So  I  told  him  at  once  exactly  how  the  case  stood. 
I  had  never  written  a  public  article  for  Blackwood 
in  my  life.  I  had  been  no  party  writer,  much  less 
editor  of  any  newspaper,  either  in  Kent  or   else- 


A   PERSONAL   EXPLANATION  113 

where,  till  the  reform  question  came  to  the  front, 
and  that  then  believing  as  I  did,  that  the  measure 
would  prove  fatal  to  the  best  interests  of  the 
country,  I  opposed  it  in  every  way,  and  wrote 
against  it  in  one  local  newspaper.  That  question 
was,  however,  settled,  and  from  the  moment  the 
Bill  passed  into  law  I  had  withdrawn  entirely  from 
politics.  Lord  John  thanked  me  for  the  explana- 
tion I  had  given,  saying  that  it  quite  agreed  with 
what  he  had  heard  of  me  from  other  quarters. 

I  returned  home,  feeling  that  I  had  done  justice 
to  all  concerned — to  Lord  John,  who  had  made  the 
offer ;  to  the  Duke,  on  whose  advice  I  had  accepted 
it ;  and  to  both  them  and  myself,  in  explaining 
exactly  how  far  I  could  be  regarded  as  a  party 
writer.  But  in  a  day  or  two  I  received  a  letter 
from  Lord  John,  in  which  he  informed  me  that  he 
had  been  again  assailed  by  rumours  which  were  to 
him  so  unpleasant  that  he  must  beg  of  me  to  give 
him  in  writing  the  same  explanation  I  had  given 
him  by  word  of  mouth.  I  felt  no  hesitation  in 
complying  with  his  request,  and  the  consequence 
was  the  appearance  in  the  John  Bull,  and  I  think 
in  the  Standard,  of  the  following  letter,  sent  to 
them  promptly  through  Lord  John  : — 

"Sir, — I  gather  from  a  paragraph  in  yesterday's 
Standard,  that  the  Times  and  Morning  Chronicle 
have  gone  out  of  their  way  to  vituperate  Lord 
John  Russell  and  myself,  because  his  lordship  has 


114      REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

thought  proper  to  present  me  to  the  chaplaincy  of 
Chelsea  Hospital.  Were  I  alone  attacked,  I  should 
not  trouble  you  with  any  counter-statement.  In 
justice,  however,  to  Lord  John  Russell,  I  beg  to 
assure  you,  first,  that  I  never  wrote  a  political 
article  in  Blackwood' s  Magazine  in  my  life ;  and, 
secondly,  that  I  am  not,  nor  ever  was,  the  editor  of 
any  newspaper,  either  in  Kent  or  elsewhere.  With 
respect  to  my  professional  merits  or  demerits,  I 
beg  to  refer  you  to  my  Diocesan,  the  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  as  well  as  to  those  among  whom  I 
have  lived  and  laboured  for  upwards  of  twelve 
years. 

"  I  do  not  deny  that  my  political  principles  are 
different  from  those  of  the  Times  and  the  Morning 
Chronicle,  and  that  during  the  agitation  of  a 
question  more  momentous  than  has  come  under 
discussion  in  this  country  since  the  Revolution,  I 
felt,  as  I  believe  all  reflecting  men  did,  warmly.  I 
plead  guilty  also  to  having  written  various  papers 
against  the  Reform  Bill ;  but  the  measure  being 
carried,  I  ceased  to  make  politics  in  any  shape  the 
subject  of  my  literary  labours,  because  I  have 
always  believed  that  it  is  my  duty  as  a  clergyman 
to  set  an  example  to  those  around  me  of  obedience 
to  the  laws. 

"If  there  be  anything  in  this  which  renders  me 
unworthy  to  receive  preferment,  I  confess  that  I 
cannot  discover  it,  and  much  more  am  I  at  a  loss 
to  conceive  how  Lord  John  Russell    should   incur 


I 


THE   INCIDENT    CLOSED  115 

the  hostility  of  a  Liberal  press,  because  of  his  un- 
solicited offer  of  patronage  to  one  who  holds  these 
opinions." 

May  I  be  pardoned,  if,  in  order  to  bring  this 
episode  to  a  close,  I  state,  that  my  letter  to  the 
newspapers  proved  satisfactory  to  Lord  John,  and 
that  having  sent  him  a  little  volume  of  my  sermons 
which  I  had  preached  in  Ash  Church,  and  after- 
wards published,  I  received  from  him  the  following 
acknowledgment : — 

"Wilton  Crescent,  March  30,  1834. 

"  Dear  Sir, — I  ought  to  have  thanked  you  for 
the  present  of  a  copy  of  your  sermons — indeed  I 
should  have  done  so,  but  that  I  wished  to  have  an 
opportunity  of  reading  them,  and  this,  with  my 
occupations,  was  not  very  easy  to  find.  Now  that 
I  am  acquainted  with  their  merits,  I  am  the  better 
able  to  assure  you  that  I  appreciate  very  highly 
the  value  of  your  discourses,  and  to  add  my  humble 
advice  that  you  will  continue  in  this  course,  by 
which  you  may  not  only  be  of  essential  service  to 
the  veterans  of  Chelsea,  but  likewise  to  our  active 
forces  in  every  part  of  the  world. — I  remain,  very 
faithfully  yours,  John  Russell." 

Agreeable  as  was  to  me  the  prospect  of  living 
in  London,  comprehending,  as  Johnson  said  of  it, 
"the  whole  of  human  life  in  all  its  varieties,"  I  did 
not  turn  my  back  on  Ash  without  a  pang.     I  had 


116      REMINISCENCES   OF    DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

resided  there  for  twelve  years  on  terms  of  warm 
friendship  with  all  classes — there  was  no  dissent- 
ing chapel  in  the  parish — a  good  deal  to  say  of  a 
place  containing  two  thousand  inhabitants,  and  the 
church  was  crowded  as  often  as  services  were  per- 
formed. It  soon  appeared  likewise  that  the  active 
part  I  had  taken  in  opposition  to  the  Reform  Bill 
had  not  lost  me  the  good  opinion  even  of  those 
whose  views  on  that  subject  were  different  from 
my  own,  for  a  movement  was  set  on  foot  to  present 
me  with  a  parting  gift,  the  subscriptions  towards 
which  soon  amounted  to  £80.  There  was  no  squire 
in  the  place,  and  the  class  of  farmers  and  thriving 
tradesmen  did  not  number  more  than  about  a 
dozen  persons,  and  of  these  only  two  held  back. 

But  what  was  lacking  elsewhere  the  penny  sub- 
scriptions of  the  labouring  people  and  small  shop- 
keepers made  good,  and  a  handsome  silver  epergne 
was  purchased.  Then  followed  a  dinner  at  the 
Ship  Inn,  and  a  presentation,  attended  with 
speeches,  all  of  them  from  the  heart.  I  look 
back  at  this  day  with  infinite  satisfaction  on  the 
refutation  thereby  given  to  the  slanders  of  the 
Liberal  press,  and  trust  that  the  piece  of  plate  thus 
received  will  never  pass  out  of  my  family,  so  long 
as  there  remains  man  or  woman  to  represent  it. 

It  is  a  curious  coincidence,  and,  to  me,  most 
gratifying,  that  while  in  my  ninetieth  year  I  am 
putting  on  record  events  such  as  these,  I  should 
find  myself  deep  in  a  correspondence  with  several 


FAREWELL   TO    ASH  117 

of  the  inhabitants  of  Ash,  and  learn  from  them, 
that  though  few  of  my  contemporaries  in  point  of 
age  survive,  I  am  still  remembered  with  affection 
and  respect  in  the  parish.  This  I  attribute  to  the 
manner  of  my  daily  intercourse  with  their  parents, 
quite  as  much  as  to  the  fidelity  with  which  I 
endeavoured  to  discharge  my  duties  among  them ; 
for  though  they  were  two  thousand  in  number,  I 
knew  them  all  by  name,  and  greeted  them  on  every 
occasion,  whether  in  their  own  houses  or  elsewhere, 
as  if  they  had  been  connected  with  me  by  some  tie 
of  kindred.  Hence,  though  all  did  not  take  the 
same  view  that  I  did  of  the  Reform  question,  there 
never  arose  the  slightest  personal  estrangement  on 
either  side,  and  when  the  strife  came  to  an  end,  all 
who  had  the  right  to  vote  went  with  me  to  the  poll. 
It  would  have  been  idle  to  expect  that,  as  chap- 
lain to  the  Royal  Hospital  at  Chelsea,  I  should  see 
as  much  of  the  great  Duke,  or  enjoy  so  large  a 
share  of  his  confidence,  as  I  did  while  residing 
within  eight  miles  of  Walmer  Castle.  Indeed,  the 
time  and  occasion  of  special  confidence  between 
men  moving  in  spheres  so  different  were  passed. 
Not  that  he  seemed  to  consider  himself  as  bound  to 
reticence  on  any  subject  that  cropped  up  when  I 
was  his  guest,  either  singly,  or  in  a  crowd.  But  he 
spoke  the  truth  when  he  assured  Lord  Fitzroy 
Somerset,  and,  through  him,  Lord  John  Russell, 
that  he  was  always  averse  to  my  mixing  myself  up 
in  any  way  with  the  strifes  of  parties.     This  did 


118       REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

not  prevent  him,  however,  from  telling  me  that  Sir 
Robert  Peel  had  gone  abroad  in  1835  contrary  to 
his  advice,  because  he  was  satisfied  that  the  King 
waited  only  for  a  convenient  opportunity  of  getting 
rid  of  Lord  Melbourne's  administration,  and  that, 
in  his  opinion,  Sir  Robert  ought  to  have  been 
within  earshot  at  the  time  of  Lord  Spencer's  death, 
and  the  removal  of  Lord  Althorp  to  the  House  of 
Lords,  to  help  the  King  in  the  exercise  of  his  pre- 
rogative. He  even  went  so  far,  on  one  occasion,  as 
to  express  regret  that  Sir  Robert  had  not  followed 
the  example  of  Pitt  in  1784,  and  held  on  against  a 
small  majority  in  the  Commons,  having  the  King 
and  the  Lords,  and  the  wealth  and  intelligence  of 
the  comitry  at  his  back.  But  never  again  did  he 
invite  me  to  act  with  him  or  his  party  either  by 
my  pen  or  otherwise.  Indeed,  he  went  so  far, 
after  the  publication  of  the  Chronicles  of  Waltham, 
as  to  censure  as  imprudent  on  my  part  some 
expressions  in  that  book,  which  were  liable  to  be 
treated  as  attacks  on  the  Liberals — as  a  body. 
Thus  our  intercourse  became  simply  that  of  kind- 
ness and  consideration  on  his  part,  and  of  grateful 
devotion  on  mine,  for  he  had  very  much  gratified 
me  on  one  occasion  by  standing  godfather  to  one  of 
my  sons,  and  he  did  me  a  substantial  favour  by 
giving  to  another  a  presentation  to  the  Charter- 
house, and  subsequently  appointing  liim  to  a 
Highland  regiment,  in  which,  at  the  early  age  of 
twenty-one,  he  became  a  captain. 


END    OF   "confidences"  119 

Few  letters  passed  between  us,  though  our 
epistolary  correspondence  did  not  entirely  cease, 
for  besides  seeing  him  often  in  London,  I  more 
than  once  visited  him  both  at  Strathfieldsaye  and 
at  Walmer  Castle,  from  the  latter  of  which  places 
there  is  in  my  collection  a  note  which  tells  me  : 
"Your  friends  in  this  part  of  the  country  regret 
you  much,  and  none  more  so  than  yours,  most 
sincerely,  Wellington." 

I  must  therefore  content  myself  hereafter  with 
speaking  of  him  and  his  fortunes  in  such  general 
terms  as  befit  a  looker-on  from  whom  the  curtain 
was  only  partially  withdrawn. 


END    of    book   I 


BOOK    II 

OF  THE  DUKE'S  PLACES  OF  RESIDENCE,  AND 
SOME  OF  THOSE  WHO  VISITED  HIM 


CHAPTER  I 

From  the  date  of  Lord  Liverpool's  death  to  his 
own  demise,  the  Duke  was  accustomed  to  dispense 
his  hospitaUties  in  one  or  other  of  his  mansions. 
Apsley  House  became  his  town  residence  by  pur- 
chase from  his  brother,  Lord  Wellesley,  in  1816. 
By  an  expenditure  of  £90,000,  or  thereabouts, 
he  made  it  what  it  is,  an  extremely  comfortable, 
though  scarcely  a  palatial  abode.  He  was  his  own 
architect,  and  thence  one  or  two  peculiarities,  as, 
for  example,  stabling  approached  by  a  sort  of  tunnel 
passed  under  the  house,  and  a  hall  pitched  at  a 
level  which  left  no  room  for  Canova's  colossal  statue 
of  Napoleon,  except  in  an  out-of-the-way  corner 
under  the  main  staircase.  There,  during  the  London 
season,  took  place  his  great  entertainments — the 
Waterloo  banquet ;  dinners  to  royalties,  diplomatic 
bodies,  and  Cabinet  ministers ;  balls,  routs,  and 
such  like — at  some  of  which  were  exhibited  displays 
of  gold  and  silver  and  precious  china,  more  gorgeous 
than  any  other  subject  of  the  British  or  other 
European  Crown  could  exhibit.  In  Apsley  House, 
however,  the  Duke  may  be  said  to  have  been 
always  playing  a  part.  Mornings  occupied  in  public 
business — now    in    his    own    study,    now    at    the 

123 


124      REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

Ordnance  Office  or  the  Horse  Guards,  now  in  the 
House  of  Lords — were  followed,  evening  after  even- 
ing, by  attendance  at  gatherings,  when  crowds  of 
well-dressed  ladies  and  gentlemen  met  to  make  them- 
selves as  agreeable  as  possible  to  one  another.  They 
who  encountered  the  Duke  only  amid  this  whirl 
saw  but  the  outside  of  the  man.  His  subordinates, 
whether  in  Pall  Mall  or  Whitehall,  found  in  him, 
no  doubt,  a  perfect  master  of  the  business  in  which 
they  were  engaged.  But  to  the  casual  acquaintance 
he  appeared  in  the  light  of  a  well-bred  man  of 
fashion,  remarkable  chiefly  for  the  ease  and  grace 
with  which  he  received  the  respectful  attentions  of 
all  who  approached  him.  I  speak  of  him,  of  course, 
as  I  myself  found  him,  after  he  honoured  me  with 
personal  notice.  Others  said  of  him,  and  I  believe 
said  truly,  that  when  he  first  entered  into  what  is 
called  London  society,  having  spent  the  best  part 
of  his  life  in  camps,  his  manners  were  somewhat 
rough.  So  at  all  events  writes  Baron  Stockmar, 
whose  acquaintance  with  him  began  as  early  as 
the  marriage  of  Princess  Charlotte  of  Wales.  But, 
whatever  may  have  been  the  case  in  1817,  in  1828 
all  traces  of  the  rude  training  of  camp  life  had 
disappeared.  It  was,  however,  elsewhere  than  in 
the  artificial  atmosphere  of  London  that  you  must 
have  needs  sought  the  Duke,  if  you  desired  to  see 
him  in  a  natural  light,  and  to  the  other  houses  to 
which  reference  has  been  made  we  shall  accordingly 
follow  him. 


THE   NATIONS   GIFT  125 

Strathfieldsaje,  the  gift  of  a  grateful  nation   to 
one  who  had  rendered  to  his  country  and  to  Europe 
more  important  services  than  any  man  of  his  age, 
was   purchased    in    1817    from    Lord    Rivers,   and 
settled   by  Act   of  Parliament   on   the    Dukes   of 
Wellington  for  ever.     The  trustees   appointed  to 
guard   the   appanage    from   abuse   were   the   Lord 
Chancellor,  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  and 
the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons  for  the  time 
being.     The  price  paid  for  the  article  was  £500,000, 
and  the  conditions  under  which  it  was  held  were 
stringent.    The  incumbent,  whosoever  he  might  be, 
is  prohibited,  not  only  from  selling  an  acre  of  the 
land,  but  from  cutting  down  a  single  tree  except 
with  the  consent  of  the  trustees.     Such  consent 
having  been  given,  he  is  required  to  render  a  strict 
account  of  the  produce  of  the  sales,  in  order  that 
a   portion    of   the    purchase  -  money   may    be    set 
aside  as  a  provision  for  the  younger  children.     The 
estate  is  a  valuable  one,  abundantly,  perhaps  over- 
timbered,  and  in  the  park  are  noble  avenues  of  elm 
and  oak,  one  of  them   exactly  a  mile  in  length. 
There  is  much  variety  of  rise  and  fall  in  the  scenery, 
to  the  beauty  of  which  the  river  Loddon,  enlarged 
into  something  like  a  lake  where  it  passes  the  house 
at  a  distance  of  perhaps  three  hundred  yards,  adds 
not  a  little.     As  to  the  house  itself,  the  most  that 
can  be  said  of  it  is,  that  it  is  a  fair  specimen  of  the 
taste  of  the  early  Georgian  era,  during  which  it 
was  built.      Looking  at  it,  as   you  approach  the 


126      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

main  entrance,  you  see  only  a  narrow  frontage 
rising  two  stories  from  the  ground,  with  all  the 
offices,  stables,  dog-kennels,  servants'  lodgings, 
tennis-court,  etc.,  separated  from  the  porch  by  a 
circular  patch  of  turf  round  which  runs  the  road. 
In  the  rear,  that  is  to  say  facing  the  river,  the 
edifice  is  rather  more  imposing ;  but  what  it  gains 
in  amplitude  is  somewhat  marred  by  the  absence  of 
proportional  height,  and  the  coat  of  yellow  plaster 
with  which  all  the  outer  walls  are  covered  suggests 
the  idea,  not  an  idle  one,  that  the  materials  com- 
posing them  are  neither  substantial  nor  likely  to 
be  durable.  It  is  right  to  add  that  the  interior 
more  than  fulfils  the  expectations  that  had  been 
raised  by  a  contemplation  of  the  exterior.  There 
is  a  noble  hall  open  to  the  ceiling,  and  the  living- 
rooms,  though  narrow  and  low  in  the  roof,  are 
extremely  comfortable.  They  run  ofi"  into  long 
galleries  of  which  the  effect  is  good,  and  the  bed- 
rooms are  both  numerous  and  convenient.  Among 
other  arrangements  contemplated  when  Parliament 
voted  the  sum  necessary  for  endowing  the  dukedom, 
was  one  for  building  a  house  which  should  rival 
in  the  grandeur  of  its  details  the  ducal  palace  at 
Woodstock.  It  is  to  be  regretted,  having  this 
object  in  view,  that  the  agents  entrusted  with  the 
duty  of  purchasing  a  domain  had  not  been  instructed 
to  make  an  offer  for  Sir  John  Cope's  magnificent 
place,  Bramshill.  There  they  would  have  found 
ready  to  their  hands  a  mansion  which  James  i.  is 


STRATHFIELDSAYE  127 

said  to  have  built  for  Prince  Henry.  Either  the 
mistaken  idea  that  Sir  John  would  be  unwilling  to 
sell,  or  a  belief  that  the  land  at  Strathfieldsaye  was 
greatly  superior  in  quality  to  that  of  Bramshill, 
hindered  them  from  looking  beyond  Lord  Kivers's 
estate.  The  Duke,  delighted  with  the  contour  of 
Strathfieldsaye  Park,  and  especially  with  its  long 
avenues,  entirely  approved  their  decision,  and  set 
his  architect  to  work,  preparing  plans  for  the  new 
house  which  was  to  replace  the  old  one.  When  I 
mention,  however,  that  the  charge  for  the  plans 
alone,  and  they  were  drawn  in  full,  amounted  to 
£700,  an  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  enormous  sum 
that  would  have  been  required  had  the  work  been 
executed.  The  Duke  wisely  contented  himself, 
under  the  circumstances,  with  purchasing  and  re- 
building Apsley  House,  and  taking  possession  of 
the  house  at  Strathfieldsaye  exactly  as  he  found  it, 
pronounced  it  to  be  as  convenient  and  comfortable 
a  place  of  abode  as  any  man  could  wish  to  inhabit. 

Though  considerably  more  free  from  restraint  at 
Strathfieldsaye  than  in  London,  the  Duke  was  still 
a  good  deal  encumbered  when  there  with  social  as 
well  as  official  duties.  It  was  during  the  winter 
months  that  for  the  most  part  he  resided  in  Hamp- 
shire, and  then  came  at  intervals  royal  and  other 
sportsmen,  to  kill  his  game  and  share  his  hos- 
pitalities. He  was  likewise  Lord-Lieutenant  of  the 
County ;  and  however  light  most  of  the  duties  of 
that  functionary  might  be,  they  were  all  attended 


128      REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

to  with  the  greatest  punctuality.  Indeed,  so  far 
was  he  accustomed  to  carry  his  devotion  to  the 
Crown,  whose  representative  he  held  himself  to  be, 
that,  postponing  all  other  claims  on  his  attention, 
he  made  a  point  of  receiving  the  Judges  and  enter- 
taining them  at  Strathfieldsaye  House  as  often  as 
they  came  on  to  the  county  on  circuit.  On  the 
other  hand,  when  his  guests  consisted  only  of  inti- 
mate friends,  and  all  the  calls  of  duty  were  attended 
to,  the  Duke  threw  restraint  and  artificial  manners 
behind  him.  He  hunted  three  or  four  days  in  the 
week — now  with  Sir  John  Cope's,  now  with  the 
Vine  hounds,  to  the  maintenance  of  both  of  which 
he  contributed  liberally.  With  his  immediate 
neighbours,  if  I  except  Mr.  Shaw  -  Lefevre,  first 
one  of  the  members  for  the  county,  and,  after  the 
passing  of  the  Reform  Act,  Speaker  of  the  House 
of  Commons,  he  held  little  familiar  intercourse. 
Indeed,  almost  the  only  local  gentry  you  met  at  his 
table  were  his  nephew,  the  rector  of  the  parish,  and 
Mr.  Briscall,  the  curate,  in  connection  with  each  of 
whom  there  were  circumstances  not  perhaps  un- 
deserving of  notice. 

Lord  Rivers,  while  owner  of  Strathfieldsaye,  pre- 
sented to  the  rectory  Mr.  Bastard,  a  gentleman 
who  had  married  his  natural  daughter.  A  year  or 
two  afterwards,  another  rectory  of  which  he  was 
patron  fell  vacant  in  Gloucestershire,  and  to  that 
also  Lord  Rivers  presented  his  son-in-law.  Unfor- 
tunately for   Mr.  Bastard,  the  value    of  the   new 


THE  RECTOR    OF    STRATHFIELDSAYE  129 

benefice  was  too  great  to  allow  his  retaining  the 
old,  and  in  order  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the 
law,  he  resigned  Strathfieldsaye.  But  those  were 
times  when  ecclesiastics  made  wonderfully  free 
with  both  law  and  decorum,  and  Mr.  Bastard 
accordingly  accepted  a  fresh  presentation  to  his 
Hampshire  benefice,  in  the  not  unnatural  expecta- 
tion that  the  blot  would  never  be  hit,  nor  himself 
disturbed  in  his  comfortable  plurality.  Things 
remained  in  this  state  for  many  years  after  the 
Duke  became  Lord  of  Strathfieldsaye.  It  never 
entered  into  his  head  to  suspect  that  the  non- 
resident rector  was  in  truth  an  intruder,  and  so 
long  as  the  duty  was  done,  whether  efficiently  or 
not  is  another  question,  he  allowed  things  to  take 
their  course.  And  the  duty  was  done  in  a  way 
peculiar  to  himself  by  the  Kev.  Mr.  Briscall,  who, 
after  serving  through  a  large  portion  of  the  Penin- 
sular War,  as  chaplain  at  headquarters,  was  well 
pleased,  in  default  of  better  preferment,  to  accept 
a  curacy  which  brought  him  once  more  into  close 
relationship  with  his  former  chief  Briscall  was  a 
man  of  refined  manners  and  a  good  presence.  The 
Duke  in  his  despatches  speaks  favourably  of  him, 
especially  on  the  ground  that  he  kept  down 
Methodism  in  the  army.  I  believe  he  did  more 
than  this,  by  performing  divine  service  every 
Sunday,  so  long  as  the  troops  occupied  winter- 
quarters,  though  I  and  many  more  never  saw  him 
but  once,  and  then  could  not  hear  a  word  he  said. 

I 


130       REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

But  a  constitutional  shrinking:  from  encounters 
with  pain  and  sickness  kept  him  from  visiting  the 
hospitals  ;  and  as  to  reading  the  burial  service  over 
the  dead,  that,  during  the  wars  of  the  French 
Kevolution,  was  a  thing  unheard  of  Into  huge  pits 
dug  to  receive  them  the  slain  in  battle  were  cast,  as 
manure  is  cast  into  a  trench,  and  the  victims  of 
fever  and  privations  were  in  a  somewhat  similar 
fashion  disposed  of  Even  the  officers,  though 
interred  apart,  had  no  prayers  read  beside  their 
graves,  for  this,  among  other  reasons,  that  the 
chaplains  of  the  army  were  very  few  in  number, 
and  of  these  few,  not  one,  so  far  as  I  know,  cared  to 
make  more  than  a  convenience  of  the  service. 

Mr.  Briscall,  whom  the  Duke  had  more  than  once 
recommended  to  Lord  Liverpool  for  preferment  in 
the  Church,  was,  when  I  made  his  acquaintance, 
a  chaplain  to  the  forces  on  half-pay,  and  curate 
of  Strathfieldsaye.  His  habits  were  somewhat 
eccentric  and  his  manners  agreeable,  but  he  had 
a  nervous  fear  of  infection,  and  could  not  bring 
himself,  be  the  case  what  it  might,  to  visit  a 
dying  parishioner.  He  dined  every  day  at  the  big 
house  whenever  the  Duke  was  in  residence,  and 
with  the  same  regularity  if  the  Duchess  were  there 
alone.  Poor  fellow,  though  his  ostensible  expenses 
were  moderate  enough,  he  was  always  in  debt,  and 
ready  at  any  moment  to  give  a  note  of  hand  in 
exchange  for  a  loan  to  any  one  who  might  be  good- 
natured  enouofh  to  accommodate  him.     He  was  less 


THE    CURATE    OF   STRATHFIELDSAYE  131 

regular  in  repaying  than  in  borrowing,  and  lacked 
judgment  to  discriminate  between  those  with  whom 
this  system  might  be  pursued  with  impunity  and 
those  to  whom  it  would  present  itself  in  the  guise 
of  fraud.  Now  the  Duke  was  the  most  particular 
of  men  in  money  matters.  Liberal  he  was  in  his 
gifts  to  such  as  begged  from  him,  as  will  be  shown 
more  at  length  by  and  by,  but  for  debts  to  trades- 
men he  made  no  allowance,  and  he  looked  upon  the 
man  w4io  put  off  a  creditor  with  a  note  of  hand, 
without  being  sure  that  he  would  be  in  a  condition 
to  take  it  up  when  due,  as  little  better  than  a 
swindler.  In  an  evil  hour  for  himself,  Mr.  Briscall 
borrowed  £500  from  the  Duke,  giving  him  a  note 
of  hand  payable  in  six  months.  The  six  months 
ran  their  course,  no  settlement  of  accounts  took 
place,  nor  was  any  explanation  offered  for  the 
causes  of  delay,  and  the  Duke,  while  he  took  no 
open  notice  of  the  matter,  treated  Mr.  Briscall  ever 
after  with  marked  coldness.  The  curate  remained, 
indeed,  in  the  rectory,  and  dined  as  usual,  day 
after  day,  with  the  lord  of  the  manor,  but  the  lord 
of  the  manor  took  no  more  notice  of  him,  either 
at  table  or  afterwards,  than  as  if  he  had  not  been 
present. 

I  have  told  this  story  because  the  sequel  to  it 
illustrates,  in  my  opinion,  a  marked  peculiarity  in 
the  Duke's  idiosyncrasy. 

The  money  affair  was  a  private  matter  between 
Mr.  Briscall  and  himself.     As  the  individual  out- 


132      REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

raged,  he  showed  his  displeasure  in  the  manner 
here  described.  But  a  blunder  in  private  life  could 
not  make  the  Duke  forget  what  he  believed  to  be 
an  official's  claim,  on  account  of  services  rendered  to 
the  country  and  the  Government.  Hence,  one  of 
his  first  acts  after  becoming  Prime  Minister  was  to 
offer  Mr.  Briscall  a  stall,  either  in  Worcester  or  in 
Lincoln,  I  forget  which.  The  offer  was  gratefully 
accepted,  and  Mr.  Briscall  looked  forward  to  spend- 
ing the  rest  of  his  life  in  the  enjoyment  of  what 
was  then  a  diofnified  sinecure.  He  did  not  calculate 
aright  the  strength  of  the  Duke's  allegiance  to  the 
principle  of  aristocracy,  another  of  that  great  man's 
marked  peculiarities.  Within  a  day  of  his  con- 
versation with  Mr.  Briscall,  the  Prime  Minister 
received  a  letter  from  the  Duke  of  Beaufort  asking 
for  the  vacant  stall.  It  happened  that  there  was  at 
this  time  a  living  in  the  fens  of  Lincolnshire  of  equal, 
if  not  greater  pecuniary  value,  at  the  disposal  of  the 
Crown.  The  Duke  sent  at  once  for  Mr.  Briscall, 
and  telling  him  he  would  be  glad  if  he,  Mr.  Briscall, 
would  accept  the  benefice,  and  thereby  enable  him 
to  oblige  the  Duke  of  Beaufort,  Briscall  felt  that 
he  could  meet  the  proposal  only  in  one  way.  The 
stall  was  given  to  Lord  W.  Somerset,  the  Lincoln- 
shire benefice  to  Mr.  Briscall,  who  found  both  the 
situation  and  the  duty  so  uncongenial,  that  he  was 
obliged,  after  a  brief  experience  of  both,  to  apply 
for  a  licence  of  non-residence.  This  he  got,  and 
died,    after   I    became    chaplain-general,    assistant 


A    CASE    OF    PLURALITIES  133 

chaplain  to  the  garrison  of  Chatham,  leaving  heavy- 
debts  unpaid  behind  hini. 

Meanwhile  another  incident,  not  less  character- 
istic of  the  Duke's  habits  of  thought,  may  be  worth 
relating,  Mr.  Bastard,  as  has  just  been  said,  though 
resident  on  his  benefice  in  Gloucestershire,  still 
retained  the  rectory  at  Strathfieldsaye,  and  more 
than  that  rectory.  His  father-in-law,  in  presenting 
him  to  Strathfieldsaye,  had  added  to  it  the  adjoining 
rectory  of  Turgis,  of  Avhich  the  gross  annual  value 
might  amount  to  £600.  Now,  as  Strathfieldsaye  was 
thus  computed  to  be  worth  £1000,  Mr.  Bastard  had 
every  right  to  consider  himself  amply  provided  for. 
But  whatever  his  views  might  be,  his  patron 
thought  otherwise,  and  the  Gloucestershire  living, 
with  its  superior  house  and  glebe,  became,  by  the 
process  already  described,  a  substantial  addition  to 
the  son-in-law's  income.  For  a  good  many  years 
the  fortunate  incumbent  of  the  three  rectories 
rejoiced  in  his  pluralities,  and  would  have  probably 
done  so  till  the  day  of  his  death  but  for  an  acci- 
dent. Gerald  Weliesley,  the  Duke's  nephew, 
whom  his  uncle  had  in  some  sense  educated  with 
his  own  sons,  took  orders,  and  was,  while  yet 
a  young  man,  chosen  by  Dr.  Van  Mildert,  Bishop 
of  Durham,  to  be  his  domestic  chaplain.  It 
chanced  that  some  member  of  the  Episcopal  stafi", 
I  think  it  was  the  Chancellor,  had  a  taste  for 
ferreting  out  mistakes  in  the  administration  of 
Church  afiairs,  and  having  learnt  that  the  Bishop's 


134      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

chaplain  would  have  been  rector  of  Strathfieldsaye, 
had  the  benefice  not  fallen  vacant  during  Lord 
Kivers's  time,  he  looked  into  the  conditions  on 
which  Mr.  Bastard  kept  Mr.  Wellesley  out  of  his 
inheritance,  and  found  them  to  be  inadequate.  The 
old  law  relating  to  pluralities  was  lax  enough,  but 
it  did  not  sanction  the  retention  of  two  bene- 
fices in  Hampshire  by  the  incumbent  of  a  living  in 
Gloucestershire  so  valuable  as  that  to  which  Mr. 
Bastard  had  been  presented.  The  effect  of  his 
induction  into  the  latter  caused  an  immediate 
lapse  of  the  former,  his  continued  retention  of 
which  was  an  illegal  act,  persevered  in,  doubtless, 
through  inadvertence. 

Informed  of  all  this,  and  instructed  as  to  his  own 
rights,  the  Duke  was  neither  tardy  nor  ungenerous 
in  acting  upon  them.  He  might  have  carried  Mr. 
Bastard  at  once  into  Court,  in  which  case  Mr. 
Bastard  would  have  been  compelled,  not  only  to 
surrender  his  benefices,  but  to  refund  the  revenues 
derived  from  them  during  the  past  seven  years. 
This  he  did  not  do,  but,  pointing  out  that  such  a 
course  was  open  to  him,  he  invited  Mr.  Bastard  to 
resign,  which  Mr.  Bastard  wisely  and  properly  did. 
Mr.  Wellesley  thereupon  became  incumbent  of  the 
rectories  of  Strathfieldsaye  and  Turgis,  and  retained 
them,  much  to  his  own  credit  and  the  benefit  of  his 
parishioners,  till  transferred  to  the  deanery  of 
Windsor. 

We  come  now  to  the  third  and  latest  acquired  of 


WALMER   CASTLE  135 

the  Duke's  three  houses,  and  that  in  which,  I  may 
add,  without  the  smallest  hesitation,  he  most 
delighted  to  find  himself.  Walmer  Castle,  the 
most  perfect  specimen  extant  of  fortresses  huilt 
in  the  reign  of  Henry  viii.,  stands  upon  the 
margin  of  the  sea,  at  a  distance  from  Dover  on  the 
one  side  of  six  or  seven  miles,  and  from  Deal  on  the 
other  about  two.  It  is  one  of  three  which  were 
designed  for  the  protection,  not  only  of  the  coast, 
but  of  merchant-vessels  navigating  the  Straits, 
and  this  service  they  performed  in  their  day  with 
tolerable  efficiency.  Indeed,  down  to  the  intro- 
duction of  steam  and  40-pounder  guns,  they  could 
still  be  of  some  use  in  covering  traders  which  at 
full  tide  might  run  close  inshore  and  anchor  under 
their  lee.  They  are  quite  worthless  now  as  places 
of  strength,  and  one,  Sandown  Castle,  the  sea  has 
entirely  swept  away.  In  1828,  however,  all  three 
existed,  and  all  were  occupied.  Sandown,  the 
most  northerly  of  the  group,  stood  about  three 
miles  from  Deal,  in  the  direction  of  Sandwich. 
Though  equally  with  the  castles  of  Deal  and  of 
Walmer  placed  nominally  under  the  charge  of  a 
captain,  it  gave  quarters  to  a  detachment  of  the 
Coast-guard,  and  continued  to  do  so  till  it  became 
a  ruin.  Deal  Castle  can  still  boast  of  its  strong 
stone  walls,  its  circular  bastions,  its  moat,  draw- 
bridge, and  even  of  a  battery  looking  seaward  ; 
but  successive  captains  have  piled  up  such  a  mass 
of  modern  buildings   within  tlie  ramparts  as  in  a 


136      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

great  degree  to  mar  its  symmetry  as  a  fortress. 
Walmer  has  escaped  this  sore  blemish.  A  modern 
superstructure,  erected,  I  believe,  by  Mr.  Pitt, 
scarcely  raises  its  modest  head  above  the  level  of 
the  parapet,  and  thus  while  adding  to  the  house  a 
comfortable  dining  and  drawing  room,  it  in  no 
degree  spoils  the  contour  of  the  edifice.  These 
two  castles  stand  apart,  with  an  interval  between 
of  perhaps  a  mile  and  a  half,  and  are  in  every 
respect  exactly  alike,  except  that  the  town  comes 
close  up  to  the  outer  edge  of  the  ditch  at  Deal 
Castle,  while  Walmer,  separated  from  the  village 
of  that  name,  stands  within  a  paddock  of  perhaps 
twenty  acres  in  extent,  and,  considering  the  effect  of 
sea-air  on  timber,  well  wooded. 

Walmer  Castle  is  now,  and  has  been  for  many 
years,  the  official  residence  of  the  Lord  Warden 
of  the  Cinque  Ports.  The  office  itself  is  as  old 
as  the  days  of  the  Conqueror,  being  contemporary 
with  that  of  the  Constable  of  Dover  Castle,  a 
high  officer  of  State,  to  whom  was  assigned  the 
governorship  of  what  were  then  the  five  principal 
ports  or  harbours  in  the  Channel.  The  five  towns, 
which  originally  made  up  the  Cinque  Ports,  were 
Hastings,  Romney,  Hythe,  Dover,  and  Sandwich. 
To  these  by  and  by  came  to  be  added  Winchelsea 
and  Rye  as  principals  ;  and  later  still,  other  places, 
viz.  Sandgate  and  Deal,  became  offshoots  from  the 
particular  ports  to  which  they  stood  nearest,  and 
therefore   partook    both  in    their    obligations   and 


THE   CINQUE   PORTS  137 

their  privileges.  These,  in  old  times,  were  con- 
siderable. Each  port  was  required  to  provide, 
equip,  and  man  a  given  number  of  ships  for  the 
King's  service.  This  put  a  considerable  strain 
upon  their  resources,  but  the  strain  was  in  some 
degree  compensated  for  by  the  exemption  of  the 
inhabitants  from  the  payments  of  subsidies,  and 
from  answering  in  any  other  courts  than  their  own 
for  their  proceedings.  Nor  was  this  all.  To  each 
Cinque  Port — and  the  title  remained  after  the  five 
ports  had  gro^vn  into  seven — was  awarded  the  right 
of  returning  a  member  to  Parliament,  while  to  the 
Barons,  as  certain  local  magnates  were  called,  was 
assigned  the  honour  of  bearing  the  canopy  over  the 
King's  head  at  his  coronation,  and  of  partaking  in 
the  feast  which  followed  that  ceremony  at  a  table 
placed  by  itself  apart  on  the  King's  right  hand. 

The  glories  of  the  Cinque  Ports  had  faded  con- 
siderably in  1828,  when  the  Duke  became  Warden. 
They  had  ceased  to  keep  watch  and  ward  over  the 
safe  navigations  of  the  Channel,  and  were  in  con- 
sequence held  liable  to  the  same  public  burdens  as 
were  borne  by  their  countrymen  in  general.  But 
to  one  of  their  privileges  they  wisely  adhered. 
Each  port  still  returned  its  member  to  Parliament, 
and  hence  the  Boyal  Navy,  though  no  longer  largely 
recruited  from  among  their  citizens,  added  not  a  few 
of  the  sons  of  the  Cinque  Port  boroughs  to  the  list 
of  distinguished  admirals  and  captains.  Dover 
Castle,  likewise,  still  boasted  of  its  Constable,  who, 


138       REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

residing  at  Walmer,  made  over  both  his  apartments 
and  the  responsibiUties  of  his  office  to  a  deputy. 
From  him  the  Guards — for  a  garrison  of  regular 
troops  held  the  place — received  day  by  day  the 
countersign,  and  a  Cinque  Ports  jail  afforded 
accommodation  to  Cinque  Ports  debtors,  the  tink- 
ling of  whose  bell,  let  down  from  their  prison- 
house,  perched  above  the  zigzag  roadway  leading 
to  the  main  entrance,  appealed  for  alms  to  every 
well-dressed  person  who  approached  the  castle 
gate.  Nor  as  yet  had  the  Lord  Warden  been 
deprived  of  his  right,  both  to  collect  the  droits 
of  Admiralty  and  to  appoint  chartered  pilots,  to 
refuse  the  services  of  whom,  when  bound  for  the 
Thames,  or  any  other  harbour  within  the  ancient 
limits  of  the  Warden's  jurisdiction,  would  have 
subjected  the  masters  of  trading  vessels  to  a  heavy 
penalty.  Besides  all  which,  the  Lord  Warden 
exercised  within  the  same  limits  the  authority 
of  Lord-Lieutenant.  By  him  justices  of  the  peace 
were  nominated,  having  jurisdiction  coincident 
with  that  of  the  mayors  and  aldermen  in  chartered 
boroughs.  And  had  there  existed  then,  as  during 
the  French  War  there  did  exist,  corps  of  Cinque 
Ports  militia  and  volunteers,  in  him  would  still 
have  been  vested  authority  to  appoint  the  officers. 
In  one  not  unimportant  respect,  however,  the  Lord 
Warden's  position  fell  short  of  what  it  used  to  be, 
even  in  Lord  Liverpool's  time.  The  salary  of 
£4000    a     year    came    to    him    no    more.       Like 


HIS    LIFE    AT    WALMER  139 

lieutenantcies  and  sheriffdoms  of  counties,  his 
office  was  honorary  so  far,  that  it  carried  with  it 
no  other  substantial  benefit  than  the  right  to 
inhabit,  whenever  he  chose,  one  of  the  most 
agreeable  marine  residences  in  England. 

To  this  charming  seaside  home  the  Duke  took 
flight,  usually  about  the  middle  of  September,  and 
rarely  left  it,  unless  called  away  by  what  he  held 
to  be  duty,  before  the  beginning  of  November. 
The  signal  of  his  arrival  to  the  country  round  was 
the  hoisting  of  the  union-jack,  which  all  orders  and 
degrees  of  men,  prior  to  the  outbreak  of  the  Reform 
mania,  hailed  with  satisfaction.  For  not  less  at 
Walmer  than  elsewhere  was  the  Duke  scrupulously 
careful  to  discharge  the  obligations  of  his  office,  and 
to  distribute  among  the  tradesmen  of  the  place,  the 
butchers,  bakers,  and  such  like,  his  custom,  with- 
out any  regard  to  party  politics.  At  the  Court  of 
Loadmanage,  which  met  from  time  to  time  at 
Dover,  for  the  appointment  of  pilots  and  other 
business  connected  with  the  ports,  he  was  a  regular 
attendant — controlling  and  guiding  the  consulta- 
tions of  the  Barons  with  as  much  care  as  if  he  had 
been  chairman  of  committees  in  the  House  of  Lords. 
But  more  than  this.  He  hunted  with  a  pack  of 
harriers  which  were  kept  at  a  neighbouring  farm- 
house ;  shot  occasionally,  though  partridges  were 
scarce,  over  the  Walmer  manor,  and  dispensed  a 
generous  hospitality  to  the  naval  and  military 
officers  within  reach,  as  well  as  to  such  guests  from 


140      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

a  distance,  as  shoal  after  shoal  volunteered  visits  or 
accepted  his  invitations.  Of  some  of  these  latter, 
whom  I  was  privileged  to  meet  either  at  Walmer, 
or  Strathfieldsaye,  or  at  both  places,  I  now  propose 
to  speak  in  connection  with  onr  host,  just  as  they 
made  an  impression  upon  me  at  the  moment,  and 
more  in  detail  of  others,  for  an  intimate  acquaint- 
ance of  whom  future  opportunities  were  afforded 
me. 


CHAPTER    II 

THE    duke's    foreign    GUESTS 

A  KINDER  or  more  considerate  host  than  the  great 
Duke  of  WeUington  could  not  be.  He  made  you 
at  home  in  the  happiest  manner  possible  by  leaving 
you  throughout  the  greater  part  of  the  day  to  take 
care  of  yourself,  and  making  it  optional  whether 
you  would  or  would  not  join  any  combined  excursion 
that  might  be  proposed.  As  to  his  table,  it  was  in 
every  respect  such  as  became  his  position.  His  cook, 
a  Frenchman,  who  had  once  been  in  the  service  of 
Napoleon  i.,  knew  perfectly  well  both  how  to  select 
the  materials  for  a  banquet  and  how  to  deal  with 
them  when  chosen.  His  wines  also  were  excellent, 
though,  strange  to  say,  his  cellars  contained  but  a 
scanty  supply  at  any  given  moment.  Indeed,  it 
was  his  custom  both  in  town  and  country  to  lay 
in  from  time  to  time  just  as  many  dozens  of  wine 
of  different  sorts  as  would  suffice  for  a  month  or 
six  weeks'  consumption.  They  were  all  mellow  and 
ripe,  because  he  paid  large  prices  for  them,  yet, 
so  far  as  he  was  himself  concerned,  the  oldest  could 
not  have  been  more  than  a  couple  of  months  in  his 
possession.     Of  his  reasons  for  thus  acting  he  made 

141 


142      REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

no  secret,  and  he  acted  in  a  similar  manner  with 
every  consumable  article  required  in  housekeeping. 
"  At  one  time,"  he  said,  "  I  used  to  do  as  others 
do — gave  my  orders  to  the  house-steward,  and 
handed  him  the  money  to  pay  the  bills  as  he  pre- 
sented them  to  me.  This  went  on  for  a  year  or 
two,  when,  to  my  surprise  and  disgust,  I  got  letters 
from  tradesmen  humbly  begging  I  would  settle 
their  accounts  which  had  been  long  standing.  I 
found,  upon  inquiry,  that  the  fellow  had  been  gam- 
bling with  my  money,  leaving  my  creditors  unpaid ; 
and  from  that  day  to  this,  I  have  made  it  a  point 
to  pay  my  own  bills,  and  to  keep  my  accounts  with 
tradesmen  as  short  as  possible." 

Of  the  distinguished  foreigners  to  whom  his  in- 
vitations extended,  by  far  the  greater  number  used 
to  visit  him  at  Walmer  Castle.  This  was  natural 
enough,  because  Walmer  lies  but  a  little  way  out  of 
the  direct  route  from  London  to  the  Continent,  and 
it  was  usual  for  ambassadors  and  foreign  princes  and 
princesses  to  travel  homewards  just  about  the  time 
the  Duke  was  accustomed  to  betake  himself  to  the 
seaside.  Even  to  set  down  in  order  the  names  and 
titles  of  all  who,  from  time  to  time,  made  Walmer 
Castle  their  halting-place  would  be  to  make  out  a 
bead-roll  of  celebrities.  I  shall  content  myself  there- 
fore with  noticing  only  two  or  three,  in  whom,  for 
obvious  reasons,  I  was  led  to  take  special  interest. 

Foremost  among  these  may  be  placed  Monsieur 
Talleyrand,  ex-Bishop  of  Autun,  and  successively 


TALLEYRAND  143 

high  officer  of  State  under  the  Directory,   under 
the  Consulate,  under  the  First  Empire,  under  the 
Restoration,  and,  finally,  under  the  Citizen  King. 
The  Duke,   at  the  period   when   I  first  met   this 
remarkable    man   at  Walmer   Castle,   was    Prime 
Minister  of  England,  and  Talleyrand,  Ambassador 
from  the  Court  of  Louis  xviil  to  that  of  St.  James. 
Of  his   varied  career  it  would  be  ridiculous,  in  a 
sketch  like  this,   to  attempt  an  account,  were   it 
indeed   possible  to  add  as  yet   any  details  worth 
recording  to  those  already  known.      Even  of  his 
personal  appearance  it  may  seem  well-nigh  super- 
fluous to  speak.     A  flat  head,  covered  with  a  mass 
of  perfectly  white  hair,  which,  combed  down  over 
the  forehead,  gave  to  it  the  a2:)pearance  of  being 
preternaturally    low,     contradicted     the     received 
theories  which  make  a  lofty  brow  and  oval  crown 
the  outward  and  visible  signs  of  genius.     His  eyes, 
small,   black,    and   sunken   in  their   sockets,   were 
surmounted   by   bushy   eyebrows    perfectly   black 
and  straight.     A  nose  short  and  retrousse,  a  com- 
plexion ashy  pale  rather  than  sallow,   and  a  chin 
strongly  marked,  made  up   a   countenance  which, 
when  in  repose,   was  well-nigh  repulsive.     At  in- 
tervals,   when   some   brilliant    or   cynical   thought 
struck   him,  it  would  light  up  ;  but  these  intervals 
occurred  rarely,  because  in  society  he  was  habitually 
taciturn,  taking  no  part,  and  apparently  little  in- 
terest, in  the  general  conversation  which  went  on 
around    him.       If,    however,    anything   were    said, 


144      REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

which  seemed  to  him  to  present  an  opening  for  a 
clever  or  cutting  remark,  he  rarely  failed  to  take 
advantage  of  it,  and  the  effect  upon  the  company 
was  telling.  Nor  was  it  possible,  in  pubUc  at  least, 
to  lure  him  into  an  argument.  That  he  could  hold 
his  own  at  proper  seasons  with  the  most  acute  of 
diplomatists,  all  the  world  was  persuaded ;  but 
grave  discussion  he  considered  to  be  inimical  to 
digestion,  and  he  therefore  made  a  point  of  avoid- 
ing it,  both  when  eating  and  after  eating,  which  he 
held  to  be  the  most  critical  period  of  the  day.  For 
he  never  ate  except  once  in  the  twenty-four  hours, 
and  his  meal  was  in  consequence  enormous.  Like 
his  countrymen  in  general,  he  drank  little  wine, 
and  that  only  at  dinner,  and  both  tobacco  and 
coffee  he  eschewed.  Talleyrand  was  rather  above 
the  middle  height.  For  a  Frenchman  he  might  be 
considered  tall,  and  in  spite  of  his  lameness  (for  he 
had  a  contracted  foot)  his  figure  was  not  without 
grace.  He  dressed  like  a  gentleman  of  the  old 
school  after  ruffles  and  wigs  had  ceased  to  charac- 
terise it.  The  Duke  did  not  share  the  popular 
belief  in  his  extraordinary  abilities.  On  the  con- 
trary, he  regarded  him  as  rather  a  commonplace 
politician,  who  owed  his  advancement  to  the  anxiety 
of  the  French  Government,  after  the  fever  of  revo- 
lutionary madness  abated,  to  obtain  the  services  of 
as  many  aristocrats  as  were  willing  to  make  common 
cause  with  it.  As  to  his  honesty,  the  Duke  held, 
that  reflected  pretty  accurately  the  moral  condition 


THE  DUCHESS  OF  CUMBERLAND       145 

of  the  society  into  which  he  was  thrown.  He 
could  be  honest,  whenever  he  believed  that  honesty 
would  be  convenient.  He  spoke  the  truth,  if  truth 
served  the  purpose  of  the  moment.  According  to 
his  own  statement,  Talleyrand's  opinion  of  the 
Duke  was  very  different.  He  regarded  the  Duke, 
or  professed  to  do  so,  as  the  foremost  Englishman 
of  his  day,  as  well  because  of  his  perfect  integrity 
as  on  account  of  his  thorough  knowledge  of  what 
was  necessary  to  preserve  the  peace  of  Europe,  and 
the  wisdom  of  his  measures  for  securing  it.  Talley- 
rand was  accompanied  by  his  niece,  the  Duchesse 
de  Dino,  a  beautiful  and  accomplished  young 
woman,  of  whom  the  censorious  world  used  to 
speak  slightingly,  though  I  dare  say  without  just 
reason. 

Ernest,  Duke  of  Cumberland,  afterwards  King  of 
Hanover,  can  scarcely  be  spoken  of  as  a  foreigner. 
Neither  was  he  at  any  time  much  in  favour  with 
the  Duke  of  Wellington.  But  the  Duchess  of 
Cumberland  was  foreign  by  birth,  and  on  the  only 
occasion  when  I  met  her  at  Walmer  she  had  ceased 
to  be  even  a  naturalised  Englishwoman.  It  was  in 
the  winter  of  1830,  for  the  Duke  remained  longer 
than  usual  this  year  at  Walmer,  that  the  lady  paid 
him  a  visit,  bringing  with  her  her  only  child. 
Prince  George.  They  were  on  their  way  to  join 
her  husband,  and  his  father,  to  whom  the  death 
of  George  iv.  had  opened  the  succession  to  the 
Hanoverian  throne,  and  who  immediately  after  the 

E 


146      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

royal  funeral  at  Windsor  had  gone  to  take  posses- 
sion. Of  him,  therefore,  I  saw  nothing,  but  there 
was  much  in  the  situation  of  his  family,  and  in  the 
manner  of  the  new  Queen,  which  was  calculated  to 
excite  interest,  A  large  woman,  in  whom  few 
traces  of  the  beauty  of  other  days  could  be  dis- 
covered, she  was  yet  graceful  in  her  manner,  if 
indeed  it  did  not  strike  one  as  more  subdued 
than  was  necessary.  We,  the  other  guests,  were 
assembled  in  the  drawing-room  previously  to  the 
announcement  of  dinner,  when  she  entered,  the 
Duke  leading  her  by  the  hand.  We  all  rose,  of 
course,  and  stood  in  a  sort  of  semicircle,  round 
which  the  Duke  conducted  her,  introducing  to  her 
by  name  individually  each  lady  and  gentleman 
whom  she  confronted.  She  had  a  few  words  to 
say  to  all,  but  their  meaning  never  varied.  It  was 
evident  that  the  one  thought  which  filled  her  mind 
was  an  anxious  desire  that  a  favourable  impression 
of  the  family  should  be  left  in  a  country  which 
they  had  so  long  inhabited  and  were  now  quitting 
for  ever.  "You  wiU  not  forget  us  quite,  I  hope, 
when  we  are  gone.  We  leave  you  with  great 
regret,  and  would  be  sorry  not  to  believe  that  you 
would  miss  us."  Then  she  spoke  of  their  journey 
from  London,  and  the  manner  in  which  they  had 
been  treated  all  along  the  road.  "  Nothing,  I 
assure  you,  could  be  more  gratifying.  Not  a  single 
insult  was  offered  to  us.  The  people,  whenever  we 
stopped   to   change   horses,   were  quiet   and   most 


THE   BLIND   KING    OF   HANOVER  147 

respectful."  They  to  whom  she  made  her  appeal 
answered  as  was  fitting,  though  in  reference  to  the 
behaviour  of  the  people,  they  came  to  a  somewhat 
different  conclusion  from  hers.  They  knew  that  of 
all  the  members  of  the  royal  family  the  Duke  of 
Cumberland  was  the  most  unpopular,  and  that  had 
the  mobs  of  Chatham  and  Canterbury  been  aware 
that  his  family  filled  the  carriages  on  which  they 
were  gazing,  no  chivalrous  feeling  of  respect  for 
womanhood  would  have  restrained  them  from  vent- 
ing on  the  wife  the  abuse  which,  if  due  at  all,  was 
due  only  to  the  husband.  Nobody,  of  course,  said  a 
word  which  could  tend  to  deprive  the  poor  lady  of  the 
satisfaction  of  believing  that  the  obsequious  attention 
of  hosts  and  ostlers,  and  the  orderly  conduct  of  the 
few  loiterers  who  stopped  to  see  the  horses  changed, 
were  tokens  of  respect  for  her,  and  not  merely  the 
stereotyped  behaviour  of  persons  too  much  ac- 
customed to  speed  travelling  princes  on  their  way 
to  take  any  notice  of  the  escutcheons  emblazoned 
on  the  panels,  or  the  liveries  worn  by  servants. 

Prince  George  was  at  this  time  about  eighteen 
years  of  age  and  stone-blind.  The  sight  of  one  eye 
he  had  lost  in  childhood,  and  just  before  the  ascen- 
sion of  his  father  to  the  Hanoverian  throne  an 
accident  extinguished  the  other.  He  was  swing- 
ing a  double  silk  purse  carelessly  too  near  his  own 
face,  when  one  of  the  pouches,  heavy  with  coins, 
struck  the  sound  eye.  Inflammation  set  in,  and 
all  the  skill  of  the  best  oculists  in  London  failed  to 


148      REMINISCENCES   OF  DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

save  the  vision.  Either  because  his  parents  still 
clung  to  the  hope  that  vision  might  return,  or 
because  he  was  himself  as  yet  unreconciled  to  the 
inevitable,  the  Prince,  during  his  stay  in  Walmer 
Castle,  shut  himself  up  in  a  darkened  room. 
Several  of  the  guests,  besides  the  Duke,  were  in- 
vited to  visit  him  there,  and  all  came  away  much 
impressed  in  his  favour.  His  manners  were  very 
taking,  and  he  alluded  to  his  own  misfortune  with 
an  attempt  at  cheerfulness  which  was,  in  truth, 
most  touching.  Poor  boy,  his  fate  in  after-life  was 
the  more  sad,  that  neither  he  nor  his  father  had 
done  anything  to  deserve  it.  The  father's  unpopu- 
larity in  England  may,  or  may  not,  have  been  fairly 
earned.  He  never  courted  the  masses.  His  moral 
conduct,  to  say  the  least,  was  far  from  correct, 
though  in  this  respect  he  might  stand  a  comparison 
with  those  among  his  brothers  whom  the  people 
most  lauded ;  and  being  by  far  the  most  resolute 
of  the  family,  he  established  an  influence  over 
George  iv.  which  often  proved  very  inconvenient 
to  his  Majesty's  ministers.  But,  with  all  his 
faults,  he  was  a  man  of  his  word,  as  was  shown  in 
this  that  he  alone,  of  all  the  continental  sovereigns, 
fulfilled  to  his  subjects  the  promises  that  were  made 
to  them  when  thrones  were  in  danger.  The  conse- 
quence was  that  in  Hanover  he  was  as  popular  as 
in  England  he  had  been  the  reverse,  and  that  the 
devotion  of  the  people  to  the  father  was  continued 
to  the  son  when  the  crown  devolved  upon  him.     It 


PRUSSIA    AND    HANOVER  149 

has  been  charged  against  George  v.  as  an  act  of 
folly  that  in  the  quarrel  between  Austria  and 
Prussia  he  took  the  wrong  side.  Prussia,  it  is 
said,  being,  like  Hanover,  a  Protestant  state,  sound 
policy,  not  to  speak  of  higher  motives,  ought  to 
have  led  him  to  make  common  cause  with  her. 
But  they  who  argue  thus  forget  the  old  standing 
grounds  of  antipathy  which  rendered  a  cordial 
alliance  between  the  two  powers  impossible,  except 
in  opposition  to  France.  Ever  since  the  days  of 
Frederick  Prussia  had  schemed  to  absorb  Hanover. 
And  once,  by  the  favour  of  France,  to  whom  she 
was  then  a  mere  satellite,  she  succeeded  in  doing  so. 
It  was  natural,  therefore,  when  the  long-pending 
struggle  between  Austria  and  Prussia  for  supremacy 
came  on,  that  Hanover  should  cast  in  her  lot  with 
the  former.  And  that  this  was  the  feeling  of  the 
nation,  not  of  the  Court  only,  was  shown  by  the 
fact  that  large  sacrifices  were  cheerfully  submitted 
to  in  order  that  a  well-equipped  army  might  take 
the  field.  Had  Bavaria  been  more  on  the  alert, 
and  Moltke  less  master  of  strategy,  the  Hano- 
verians might  have  escaped  the  necessity  of  fighting 
the  battle  of  Langensalza  single-handed.  As  it  was, 
they  came  out  of  that  contest  defeated  indeed,  but 
not  disgraced,  after  proving  that  the  noble  qualities 
which  distinguished  the  soldiers  of  the  German 
Legion  in  the  Peninsular  War  had  by  them  been 
handed  down  unimpaired  to  their  sons.  This  could 
not,  however,  avert  the  catastrophe.    The  lost  battle 


150      REMINISCENCES   OF  DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

cost  Prince  George  his  throne,  and  Hanover  its  in- 
dependence as  a  separate  nation. 

Of  another  distinguished  foreigner,  General 
Alava,  I  must  give  some  account,  because  of  the 
intimate  relations  which  used  to  subsist  between 
him  and  the  Duke.  So  intimate  indeed  were  at 
one  time  these  relations,  that  Alava  may  be  said 
to  have  been  rather  an  inmate  in  the  Duke's  family 
than  a  guest.  Alava  began  life  as  an  officer  in 
the  Spanish  navy,  in  which  capacity  he  took  part 
in  the  battle  of  Trafalgar.  When  the  war  of 
independence  between  Spain  and  France  broke  out, 
he  at  once  joined  the  national  party,  and  at  a  later 
period  served  with  credit  at  the  Duke's  head- 
quarters. Nor  did  his  connection  with  his  great 
chief  come  to  an  end  with  the  peace  of  1 8 1 4.  In 
1815  he  was  appointed,  on  the  Duke's  suggestion, 
Spanish  Commissioner  with  the  English  army  in 
the  Netherlands,  and  was  present  in  that  capacity 
at  the  battles  of  Quatre  Bras  and  Waterloo.  We 
find  him  next,  on  his  return  home,  supporting  King 
Ferdinand  against  the  jDolitical  party  among  his 
countrymen  who  insisted  on  retaining  a  democratic 
constitution  with  a  titular  sovereign  at  its  head. 
Whether  he  entirely  approved  of  the  coup  d'etat 
which  set  aside  Juntas  altogether  may  well  be 
doubted.  At  all  events,  it  was  with  him  that  Lord 
Fitzroy  Somerset  chiefly  communicated  when  sent 
by  the  Duke's  advice  on  a  semi-official  mission  to 
Madrid,   in   the   hope   of  persuading   the   adverse 


GENERAL    ALAVA  151 

sections  to  come  to  a  compromise.  But  Spain  was 
by  this  time  a  mere  arena  of  hostile  factions  the 
intrigues  of  which,  one  against  the  other,  rendered 
all  equally  deaf  to  the  counsels  of  wisdom.  It  was 
not  in  Alava's  nature  to  keep  clear  of  the  rocks 
on  which  other  public  men  lost  themselves,  and  the 
consequence  was  that  after  the  Due  d'Angouleme's 
promenade  from  Bayonne  to  Cadiz,  Alava  was  forced 
to  go  into  voluntary  exile.  He  took  refuge  with 
many  others  in  the  south  of  France,  whither  his 
wife  followed  him.  While  there,  the  Duke's  kind- 
ness to  him  was  untiring.  He  sent  him  money  from 
time  to  time,  and  invited  him  to  come  to  England, 
where  either  apartments  in  Apsley  House,  or  one 
of  the  Duke's  many  mansions  in  Hampshire,  would 
be  at  his  service.  As  long  as  Madame  Alava  lived, 
Alava  preferred  remaining  where  he  was.  On  her 
death,  he  gladly  closed  with  the  Duke's  offer  of  an 
asylum,  and  from  about  1826  to  1830  subsisted 
entirely  on  the  Duke's  benevolence. 

Alava  was  a  Spaniard  to  the  backbone,  and  a 
liberalised  Spaniard.  Whether  he  had  any  religious 
belief  at  all,  is  doubtful,  but  certain  it  is,  that 
he  hated  the  Boman  Catholic  priesthood  with  no 
ordinary  hatred,  and  that  the  feeling  extended 
itself  during  his  residences  in  England,  till  it 
embraced  the  whole  body  of  the  clergy  of  the 
Established  Church,  and  the  ministers  of  all  de- 
nominations. His  education,  like  that  of  the  great 
body  of  Spanish  gentlemen  of  his  day,  had  been 


152      REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE  OF   WELLINGTON 

utterly  neglected.  He  knew  nothing  of  the  litera- 
ture or  history  of  other  nations,  and  little,  if  any- 
thing, of  the  literature  and  history  of  his  own.  In 
the  faculty  of  acquiring  languages  he  seemed  to  be 
particularly  deficient.  His  spoken  English,  after 
years  of  residence  in  the  country,  was  scarcely 
intelligible,  and  his  French  was  not  much  better. 
In  spite  of  these  drawbacks,  however,  he  was 
cordially  received  into  the  best  society  of  London, 
entirely  because  of  his  apparent  devotion  to  his 
benefactor,  for  he  followed  the  Duke  from  place  to 
place  hke  his  shadow.  He  entered  with  zeal  into 
all  the  Duke's  projects,  approved,  or  professed  to 
approve,  all  the  Duke's  suggestions  as  to  the  best 
means  of  procuring  for  Spain  the  blessings  of  good 
government,  and  when  the  question  of  parliamentary 
reform  came  up  at  home,  declared  himself  entirely 
in  favour  of  the  Duke's  policy  and  proceedings. 
Neither  the  Duke  nor  his  friends  were  aware  that 
Alava  was  all  this  while  in  communication  with 
Earl  Grey,  informing  him  of  the  plans  of  the  leaders 
of  the  Opposition  and  of  whatever  differences  might 
arise  among  them  as  to  the  course  of  action  to  be 
pursued.  Nor  was  it  till  after  the  death  of 
Ferdinand  had  removed  every  obstacle  to  Alava's 
return  to  Spain,  that  so  much  as  a  suspicion  was 
awakened  in  the  minds  of  those  who  trusted  him, 
of  foul  play  on  his  part.  When,  however,  he  came 
back  to  London  in  the  character  of  Queen  Chris- 
tina's ambassador,  he  threw  himself  completely  into 


GENERAL    ALAVA  153 

the  views  of  Lord  Melbourne's  Cabinet.  He  no 
longer  sought  either  the  confidence  or  the  com- 
panionship of  the  Duke.  On  the  contrary,  he  kept 
entirely  aloof  from  him,  as  well  he  might,  while 
settling  the  terms  of  a  treaty  of  which  the  Duke 
disapproved,  not  because  he  was  favourable  to 
despotism  as  it  prevailed  under  Ferdinand  vii.,  but 
because  he  held  it  to  be,  on  the  part  of  France  and 
England,  an  iniquitous  interference  in  the  internal 
affairs  of  Spain  and  Portugal.  Of  Evans's  legion, 
which  Alava  was  mainly  instrumental  in  creating, 
and  of  its  operations  in  the  Basque  Provinces,  the 
Duke  could  never  speak  with  patience.  It  seemed 
to  him  monstrous  that  England,  which  had  so 
largely  helped  the  Spanish  people  to  get  rid  of  a 
foreign  yoke,  should  suspend  her  own  laws  and 
allow  the  Spanish  Government  for  the  time  being  to 
raise  an  army  in  England  in  order  to  put  down  a 
rebellion  to  which  the  bulk  of  the  people  were 
favourable,  because  they  held  Don  Carlos  to  be 
their  legitimate  sovereign. 

Alava's  appearance  was  very  much  against  him. 
His  features  were  coarse,  his  stature  short,  and  his 
complexion  sallow.  His  conversation  consisted 
entirely,  either  of  the  gossip  of  the  day,  or  of 
anecdotes  of  the  Peninsular  War,  neither  very 
interesting  in  themselves,  nor  very  articulately 
repeated.  You  could  not  help,  on  first  making  his 
acquaintance,  sympathising  with  him  as  a  martyr 
to  principle,  and  as  I  have  just  said,  his  apparent 


154      REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

devotion  to  the  Duke  added  strength  to  the 
feeling.  In  proportion,  however,  to  the  growth  of 
your  intimacy  grew  a  distaste  for  his  company, 
which,  but  for  the  high  patronage  under  which  it 
began,  had  really  nothing  attractive  about  it.  As 
to  his  fetching  and  carrying  at  the  era  of  the 
Keform  movement,  that  was  probably  more  the 
result  of  constitutional  weakness  than  through 
either  dislike  to  aristocratic,  or  a  passionate  love  of 
democratic,  institutions.  It  was  not  in  his  nature 
to  abstain  from  intriguing  whenever  and  wherever 
intrigue  might  present  itself,  and  though  the 
power  to  do  miischief  might  be  small  with  him,  the 
spirit  of  Spanish  liberalism  by  which  he  was  moved 
constrained  him  to  make  the  most  of  it. 

Another  foreign  officer,  whom  it  was  my  privilege 
to  meet  at  Walmer  Castle,  deserves  to  be  noticed, 
were  it  only  on  account  of  the  circumstances  which 
brought  about  his  intimacy  with  the  Duke.  An 
Irishman  by  birth,  and  descended  from  a  good 
family,  Monsieur  Nugent  entered  the  Austrian 
service  at  a  time  when  Roman  Catholic  gentlemen 
were  by  law  prevented  from  holding  commissions 
in  the  British  army.  He  served  with  distinction 
through  the  earlier  wars  of  the  French  Revolution, 
and  in  1812  had  attained  the  rank  of  general.  It 
will  be  recollected  that  in  the  summer  of  that  year 
Napoleon's  fatal  invasion  of  Russia  occurred.  In 
that  enterprise  all  the  German  States  except 
Austria  took  part,  each  furnishing  a  contingent  to 


GENERAL   NUGENT  155 

the  Grand  Army,  and  each,  with  the  single  exception 
of  Saxony,  detesting  both  the  war  and  its  author. 
The  world  knows  now  what  was  known  only  to  a 
few  persons  then,  that  between  Austria  and  Russia 
a  secret  understanding  existed,  the  object  of  which 
was  to  restrain  the  further  ambition  of  the  con- 
queror, and  to  win  back,  for  both,  part  at  least  of 
the  territories  of  which  they  had  been  deprived. 
That  Napoleon  should  have  been  kept  in  the  dark 
respecting  this  matter  is  scarcely  more  surprising 
than  that  he  should  have  consented  to  the 
neutrality  of  Austria  after  making  up  his  mind  to 
strike  at  Russia.  Probably  his  marriage  with  the 
Archduchess  Maria  Louisa,  and  the  exaltation  con- 
sequent on  being  received  thereby  into  the  family 
of  princes,  may  have  misled  him.  Perhaps,  too,  he 
fancied  that  Austria,  having  much  more  to  expect 
from  a  close  alliance  with  France  than  with  any 
other  power,  would  never  be  induced  to  act  against 
him.  Be  this,  however,  as  it  may,  the  fact  remains 
that  Austria  prevailed  upon  him  to  sanction  not 
only  the  withholding  of  a  corps  which  at  one 
time  he  had  demanded,  but  the  maintenance  in 
Bohemia  of  a  stout  army  for  the  ostensible  purpose 
of  overawing  other  states  which  he  distrusted,  and 
keeping  open  his  communications  with  his  own 
rear. 

It  was  at  this  juncture,  when  Europe  watched 
with  intense  interest  the  slow  and  somewhat 
uncertain  progress  of  the  Grand  Army,  that  General 


156      REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

Nugent,  quitting  the  corps  he  commanded  in 
Bohemia,  made  his  way  to  London.  By  whom  he 
was  commissioned  to  undertake  the  journey,  if 
commissioned  by  any  one,  was  then  a  secret.  No- 
body, moreover,  pretended  to  attach  any  special 
importance  to  the  visits  which  he  paid  to  Lord 
Liverpool  and  Lord  Bathurst ;  and  when,  furnished 
with  a  letter  from  the  Colonial  Secretary  to  Lord 
Wellington,  he  took  ship  at  Portsmouth  for  Lisbon, 
the  proceeding  was  regarded  as  one  quite  to  be 
expected  from  an  Austrian  general  curious  to  see 
of  what  materials  the  British  army  in  Portugal 
was  composed.  Thus,  without  giving  rise  to 
speculation  in  any  quarter,  he  arrived  at  Frenada, 
where  the  British  headquarters  were  established, 
and  where  he  received  from  the  commander  of  the 
forces  a  very  cordial  welcome.  As  a  matter  of 
course,  the  Duke  showed  to  the  Austrian  general 
his  troops,  with  whose  appearance  and  bearing  the 
Austrian  was  delighted.  "  I  could  scarcely  believe," 
he  used  to  say,  "  that  I  was  looking  at  men,  horses, 
and  materiel,  which  had  just  begun  to  rest  after 
the  retreat  from  Burgos.  They  were  all  as  fresh 
and  clean  and  orderly  as  if  they  had  just  been 
marched  out  from  barracks  at  home." 

General  Nugent's  visit,  however,  to  Frenada  was 
not  one  of  mere  curiosity.  He  went  there,  after 
confidential  discussion  with  the  English  Govern- 
ment, to  sound  the  Duke  as  to  whether,  in  the 
event  of  an  alliance  hostile  to  France  being  got  up 


GENERAL   NUGENT  157 

between  Austria  and  Prussia,  he  would  consent  to 
take  the  command  of  their  combined  forces.  Whether 
he  was  authorised  by  the  Emperor  to  make  this 
proposal,  or  whether  he  acted  as  the  agent  of  that 
section  of  the  Austrian  Cabinet  which  abhorred  the 
French  alliance,  and  was  eager  to  escape  from  it, 
nobody  knows.  Nugent  himself  was  always 
reticent  on  that  head,  years  after  the  need  for  con- 
cealment might  be  supposed  to  have  passed  away. 
But  however  this  might  be,  the  Duke's  answer  to 
the  proposal  was  exactly  such  as  a  man  so  cautious, 
yet  so  astute,  might  be  expected  to  give.  "  The 
proposed  alliance  being  still  a  thing  of  the  future, 
a  direct  acceptance  and  a  direct  refusal  of  the  pro- 
posal would  be  alike  out  of  place.  Nor  must  your 
Government  allow  its  policy  to  be  determined  by 
a  circumstance  of  such  secondary  importance  as  my 
compliance  or  non-compliance  with  its  wish.  I  am 
not  my  own  master,  but  must  do,  both  at  this 
moment  and  hereafter,  whatever  my  own  Govern- 
ment may  desire.  But  you  may  assure  those  for 
whom  you  act  that,  whatever  I  can  do  to  promote 
a  scheme  so  wise,  indeed  so  necessary  for  the 
salvation  of  Europe,  I  will  do  with  all  my  heart." 

With  this  answer  and  a  strong  assurance  from 
the  British  Government  that,  whether  the  Duke 
went  to  them  or  not,  the  Power  which  projected 
the  alliance  would  receive  from  England  every  aid 
in  money  and  material,  Nugent  returned  home. 
By  and  by  there  followed  events  of  which  little 


158       REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

need  be  said  here,  Nugent  reached  Vienna  after 
the  fatal  retreat  from  Moscow  'had  begun.  He 
hastened  thence  into  Bohemia  and  reassumed  the 
command  of  his  corps,  which  formed  part  of  the 
Austrian  force  collected  in  that  province.  He 
became  a  member  of  the  diplomatic  body,  which 
strove  in  Dresden  to  brmg  Napoleon  to  reason, 
and  when  the  negotiations  were  broken  off  and 
Austria  made  common  cause  with  Eussia  and 
Prussia,  Nugent  took  the  field.  In  the  operations 
that  followed,  including  the  defeat  of  Vandamme 
at  the  back  of  the  Carpathians,  and  the  battle  of 
Leipsic,  he  played  a  conspicuous  part.  After  this 
we  find  him  co-operating  with  Lord  William 
Bentinck  in  the  Mediterranean,  and  at  the  head 
of  a  hastily  organised  levy  falling  upon  the  French 
garrisons  in  Dalmatia  and  Croatia,  and  compelling 
them  to  surrender.  From  Trieste  to  Fiume,  and 
from  Fiume  to  Agram,  he  carried  all  before  him, 
achieving  much  honour  to  himself  and  important 
advantages  to  the  cause.  He  was  rewarded  for  his 
services  by  being  made  a  member  of  the  Aulic 
Council,  and  a  Count  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire. 
He  had  previously  married  a  Croatian  lady,  who 
brought  him  as  her  dower  a  fine  estate  and  a  com- 
fortable house,  in  which  he  resided,  when  not  called 
by  duty  to  Vienna,  or  seeking  recreation  in  foreign 
travel. 

Count     Nugent    was    a    perfect    gentleman    in 
appearance     and    manner.       He    entertained    the 


THE    duke's    little   JOKE  159 

highest  respect  and  esteem  for  the  Duke,  in  the 
long  list  of  whose  correspondents  his  name  more 
than  once  occurs.  Whether  he  came  by  invitation 
to  Walmer  Castle,  or  volunteered  his  visits,  I  do 
not  know,  but  the  Duke  always  received  him  with 
marked  cordiality.  I  have  elsewhere  recorded  an 
amusing  little  incident  which  occurred  during  one 
of  these  visits,  but  no  great  harm  will  be  done  if  I 
repeat  it  here.  Count  Nugent  was  a  Eoman 
Catholic,  and  when  Sunday  morning  came  round, 
he  said  to  the  Duke,  "Do  you  go  to  church?" 
Duke— " Always.  Don't  you?"  Nugent— "Oh 
yes,  but,  you  know,  I  am  a  Catholic,  and  can't  go 
to  your  church."  Duke — "Very  true,  I  had 
forgotten."  Then  turning  to  Captain  Watts,  who 
was  present,  he  continued :  "  Captain  Watts, 
Count  Nugent  wants  to  go  to  the  Roman  Catholic 
chapel ;  do  you  know  where  it  is  ? "  "  Yes,  your 
Grace."  Duke — "Then  be  so  good  as  show 
Count  Nugent  the  way."  Count  Nugent,  taken 
quite  aback,  did  not  know  how  to  parry  the 
thrust,  and  was  walked  off  under  Captain  Watts's 
charge  to  a  poor  little  Roman  Catholic  chapel  in 
Deal.  The  Duke  seemed  much  amused  with  the 
expression  of  his  guest's  countenance,  and  as  the 
rest  of  the  party  were  proceeding  to  the  parish 
church  at  Walmer,  he  said  :  "I  knew  he  did  not 
want  to  go  to  church  himself,  and  was  anxious  that 
I  should  stay  at  home  with  him,  but  it  was  best 
that  we  should  both  go  to  church." 


160      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

It  was  my  privilege  a  few  years  later  to  visit 
Count  Nugent's  chateau  in  Croatia,  to  wMch  he 
invited  me,  both  when  I  met  him  at  Walmer, 
and  subsequently  at  Vienna.  Unfortunately  he 
himself  happened  to  be  from  home  when  I  arrived, 
but  from  the  Countess  I  received  a  hearty  welcome, 
as  well  as  from  his  eldest  son,  at  that  time  a  captain 
in  an  infantry  regiment.  Poor  fellow,  he  got  into 
some  quarrel  with  a  brother-officer  not  long  after- 
wards, and  was  killed  in  a  duel.  This  was  a  severe 
blow  to  his  father. 

Mention  has  been  made  of  Captain  Watts.  Watts 
joined  the  85th  Light  Infantry  in  the  early  spring 
of  1813,  on  the  same  day  that  I  did;  indeed,  we 
travelled  on  the  top  of  the  coach  together  from 
London  to  Hythe,  where  the  regiment  was  then 
quartered.  He  served  in  Spain,  the  south  of 
France,  and  America,  was  an  excellent  regimental 
officer,  and  the  most  simple-hearted  and  innocent 
of  men.  The  regiment  was  an  expensive  one,  and 
Watts,  whose  means  were  not  great,  sold  out  as  a 
captain.  But  his  good  qualities  had  secured  for 
him  the  esteem  of  all  his  brother-officers,  and  in 
1830,  when  the  Captaincy  of  Walmer  Castle  fell 
vacant,  the  place  was  obtained  for  him.  In  point 
of  emolument  it  was  of  little  value,  but  it  brought 
him  into  daily  communication  with  the  Duke,  who 
fully  appreciated  his  sterling  qualities,  and  was  not 
offended  by  his  shy  and  retiring  manners.  Watts 
died  in  1873,  a  military  Knight  of  Windsor. 


CHAPTER     III 

THE    duke's    guests—"  DII    MAJORUM  GENTIUM " 

Foremost  among  the  Duke's  political  guests,  by 
reason  both  of  the  office  which  he  held,  and  the 
part  which  he  played  in  constructing  the  Duke's 
administration,  may  be  placed  Lord  Lyndhurst. 
The  son  of  a  distinguished  artist,  and  by  descent 
an  American,  young  Copley  took  a  foremost 
place,  both  at  school  and  in  college.  He  chose 
the  bar  for  his  profession,  and  soon  became  as 
conspicuous  for  his  successes  in  court  as  for  his 
social  qualities.  It  came  to  pass,  however,  that 
Copley  so  managed  matters  as  never  to  become 
rich.  On  the  contrary,  his  pecuniary  affairs  were 
always  in  confusion,  of  which  the  consequence  was, 
that  when  he  achieved  the  honours  of  his  pro- 
fession he  had  acquired  habits  of  expense,  with 
little  more  than  his  daily  earnings  wherewith  to 
indulge  them.  "  My  poverty,  but  not  my  will 
consents  "  might  be  said  by  many  persons  in  real 
life,  as  truly  as  by  Shakespeare's  starved  apothe- 
cary. It  was  this,  combined  perhaps  with  an 
ostentatious     indifference    to     party     obligations, 

L 


162      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

which  earned  for  Copley,  rightly  or  wrongly,  the 
reputation  of  being  the  most  venal  of  politicians. 
When  Canning  became  Prime  Minister,  Copley 
took  office  under  him  as  Attorney-General.  On 
Canning's  death,  Viscount  Goderich  advanced  him 
to  the  woolsack,  as  Baron  Lyndhurst,  and  when 
the  Goderich  administration  got  into  difficulties 
he  at  once  transferred  his  allegiance  to  the  Duke 
of  Wellington.  There  is  nothing  to  show  that  he 
made  any  effiDrt,  direct  or  indirect,  to  retain  the 
seals  when  Lord  Grey  came  into  office.  Such  an 
attempt,  after  the  conspicuous  part  played  by  him 
in  resisting  the  progress  of  the  Reform  Bill,  would 
have  been  almost  more  hopeless  than  discreditable. 
But  an  ex-Chancellor's  pension,  not  then,  as  Lord 
Brougham  by  and  by  contrived  to  make  it,  £5000 
a  year,  proved  inadequate  to  his  wants,  and  he 
applied  to  the  Whig  Premier  for  the  post  of  Chief 
Baron,  and  obtained  it.  The  consequence  was, 
that  for  several  years  the  voice  which  had  been 
most  frequently  heard  in  biting  condemnation  of 
the  policy  of  ministers  became  mute,  and  so  con- 
tinued, till  another  turn  in  the  wheel  of  fortune 
placed  the  Chief  Baron  for  the  second  time  on  the 
woolsack.  Lord  Lyndhurst,  like  most  men  of  his 
moral  and  intellectual  calibre,  had  a  large  acquaint- 
ance, few  real  friends,  and  many  enemies.  Among 
his  friends,  Benjamin  Disraeli  may  be  said  to  have 
taken  a  foremost  place.  There  was  very  much  in 
the  two  men  common  to  both — with  just  enough  in 


LORD    LYNDHURST  163 

an  opposite  direction  to  save,  so  to  speak,  the 
individuality  of  each.  Lockhart  abhorred  them 
both.  On  the  occasion  of  Lord  Lyndhiirst's  ap- 
plication to  Earl  Grey,  he  wrote,  printed,  but  never 
published  a  bitter  pasquinade,  which  I  once  knew 
by  heart,  but  have  now  unfortunately  forgotten. 
The  Quarterly  Review  under  his  management  dealt 
frequent  blows  at  Disraeli,  and  if  it  spared  Lord 
Lyndhurst,  the  circumstance  cannot  be  attributed 
to  any  strong  personal  predilection  on  the  part  of 
the  editor  for  the  ex- Chancellor. 

It  was  while  both  were  in  office  that  Lord  Lynd- 
hurst was  most  in  the  habit  of  visiting  the  Duke. 
I  do  not  remember  ever  to  have  seen  him  either 
at  Walmer  or  Strathfieldsaye  after  the  Beform  Act 
came  into  force.  If  of  any  man  it  could  be  pre- 
dicated that  he  wore  two  distinct  faces,  the  assertion 
might  be  hazarded  in  his  case.  His  countenance  in 
repose  wore  a  sinister  expression,  which  disappeared 
the  moment  he  became  animated.  The  weight  of 
his  brow  in  some  sort  accounted  for  this,  over- 
hanging as  it  did  the  rest  of  his  face.  But  get  him 
into  conversation  on  a  subject  which  interested 
or  amused  him,  and  the  cloud  immediately  lifted. 
Then  a  bright,  piercing,  hazel  eye  twinkled  with 
fun,  or  looked  grave  and  thoughtful  as  the  occasion 
suggested.  His  features  were  regular  and  his  com- 
plexion a  clear  brown.  Few  men  could  make  them- 
selves more  agreeable  than  he,  for  he  had  read 
■much,  remembered  what  he  read,  and   was  never 


164       REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

at  a  loss  how  to  make  use  of  his  knowledge.  He 
was,  moreover,  a  lawyer,  and  la^'yers  have  special 
opportunities  of  observing  the  grotesque  as  well  as 
the  base  and  bad  in  human  nature.  Lord  Lynd- 
hurst  had  manifestly  not  allowed  these  to  pass 
from  him  unimproved.  His  anecdotes  were  both 
abundant  and  racy,  and  if  he  had  a  story  to  tell, 
he  told  it  admirably.  When  I  had  the  honour  of 
first  making  his  acquaintance,  he  was  married  to 
his  second  wife,  who  got  the  credit,  whether  justly 
or  not  I  cannot  say,  of  keeping  him  by  her  ex- 
travagance in  constant  difficulties. 

Lord  Lyndhurst  was  vain  of  his  personal  appear- 
ance, and  not  without  reason.  To  the  last  he 
dressed  so  as  to  appear  young,  and  wore  a  brown 
wig.  The  scandalous  world  alleged  that  he  pro- 
vided himself  with  no  fewer  than  twelve  wigs,  so 
constructed  that  from  time  to  time  he  might  seem 
to  have  had  his  hair  cut.  For  example,  on  the 
last  of  December  his  wig  was  shaggy ;  on  the  1st 
January  it  was  a  crop.  The  crop  in  course  of  time 
gave  place  to  a  wig  with  hair  slightly  longer,  till 
he  appeared  at  last  surmounted  by  the  wig  which 
had  done  duty  on  the  previous  31st  December.  I 
believe  this  to  have  been  a  true  story. 

Another  anecdote  illustrative  of  the  view  which 
he  took  of  the  uses  to  which  the  patronage  of  his 
office  might  fairly  be  turned,  rests  on  individual 
authority.  Mr.  Martin,  author  of  the  History  of 
the  British  Colonies,  lived  at  one  time,  or  said  he 


LORD   LYNDHURST  165 

did,  on  intimate  terms  with  Mr.  Disraeli,  while  the 
latter  was  as  yet  nothing  more  than  a  young  man  of 
great  promise  about  town.  Martin  conceived  that 
by  the  publication  of  his  work  he  had  done  good 
service  to  the  country,  and  not  being  overburdened 
with  shyness  he  applied,  through  Disraeli,  for  an 
office  of  considerable  emolument  in  the  Chancellor's 
gift.  The  application  was  favourably  received, 
Disraeli  being,  at  this  time,  an  intimate  friend  of 
Lord  Lyndhurst,  and  through  him  a  promise  was 
given  that  the  coveted  office  would  be  conferred  on 
the  applicant.  Accordingly,  at  the  end  of  a  week, 
a  gentleman — not  Mr.  Disraeli — called  upon  Martin, 
and,  putting  a  paper  into  his  hand,  requested  him  to 
sign  it.  Martin  read  the  paper  and  discovered,  to 
his  surprise,  that  it  was  a  document  pledging  him 
to  pay  to  the  Chancellor  two  years'  salary  of  the 
office.  Martin  declined  to  attach  his  signature  to 
the  document,  informing  his  visitor  that  the  office 
was  promised  to  him,  whereupon  the  visitor  took 
his  leave.  "The  office,"  Martin  went  on  to  say, 
"  was  given  a  few  days  subsequently  to  another 
person,  and  the  next  time  I  met  Disraeli  he  cut  me 
dead."  I  do  not  vouch  for  the  truth  of  this  story, 
and  am  apt  to  believe  that,  whatever  part  Mr. 
Disraeli  may  have  played  in  the  transaction — 
assuming  it  to  have  occurred — he  was  by  far  too 
sagacious  to  act  as  Martin  represented.  With 
respect  to  Lord  Lyndhurst  himself,  if  there  be  the 
slightest  foundation  for  the  tale,  he  may  possibly 


166      REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

have  acted  in  the  case  on  a  conviction  that  a  course 
adopted  by  the  greatest  of  his  predecessors,  even 
though  it  befell  two  or  three  centuries  ago,  could 
not  be  unworthy  of  imitation ;  and  he  at  least  had 
a  plea  to  urge,  which  Bacon  had  not,  in  mitigation 
of  the  wrong,  if  wrong  it  was. 

I  come  now  to  another  and  still  more  prominent 
member  of  the  Duke's  Cabinet,  of  whom  I  desire 
to  speak  only  as  I  found  him.  Sir  Robert  Peel's 
personal  appearance  need  not  be  described ;  it  is 
accurately  given  in  a  thousand  engravings,  with 
which  Englishmen   in  all  ranks  and  conditions  of 

o 

life  are  familiar.  His  manners,  so  far  as  my  ex- 
perience goes,  were  stiff,  cold,  and  therefore  for- 
bidding. The  impression  they  made  upon  you  was 
that  you  were  in  the  presence  of  a  man  so  terribly 
afraid  of  committing  himself,  that  he  could  not 
utter  a  word  on  any  subject  till  he  had  well  weighed 
all  its  possible  consequences.  This  awkwardness — 
for  to  such  it  amounted — might  in  part  be  consti- 
tutional. No  one  afflicted  with  an  excess  of  self- 
consciousness  can,  under  any  circumstances,  acquire 
a  frank  demeanour.  But  if  it  be  fair  to  judge  from 
the  habit  to  which  Sir  Robert  was  addicted  of 
speaking  of  himself  in  season  and  out  of  season  as 
one  of  the  people,  it  is  impossible  to  avoid  coming 
to  the  conclusion  that  at  the  root  of  this  apparent 
shyness  lay  no  small  amount  of  mistaken  pride. 
The  son  of  a  man  who,  beginning  life  as  an  operative 
weaver,  rose  to  be  one  of  the  most  successful  and 


SIR    ROBERT   PEEL  167 

affluent  of  English  manufacturers,  Sir  Kobert  was 
from  boyhood  brought  into  contact  with  an  aris- 
tocracy which,  though  in  the  main  both  Uberal 
and  enhghtened,  is  at  least  as  jealous  of  its  social 
privileges  as  any  in  Europe.  As  years  passed,  Peel's 
great  wealth  and  undoubted  abilities  fully  entitled 
him  to  break  through  the  conventionalities,  and 
break  through  them  he  did  for  all  practical  purposes. 
But  neither  at  Harrow,  nor  at  Oxford,  nor  later, 
when  he  became  a  Member  of  Parliament  and  a 
Cabinet  Minister,  could  he  entirely  succeed  in 
effacing  from  his  own  mind  the  idea  that,  though 
with  the  magnates  of  England,  he  was  not  one 
of  them.  This  was  shown,  not  alone  in  private 
society,  but  by  many  of  his  speeches  in  the  House 
of  Commons ;  and  nowhere  more  distinctly  than  in 
that  clause  of  his  will  which  forbade  his  sons  to 
accept  a  peerage,  or  any  other  token  of  the  sense 
entertained  by  the  Crown  of  their  father's  services. 

Had  he  been  able  to  forget  his  own  origin,  or, 
better  still,  to  look  back  upon  it  as  an  accident 
not  to  be  accounted  of,  except  as  testifying  to  the 
excellence  of  the  institutions  under  which  he  lived, 
he  would  have  escaped  many  moments  of  self- 
inflicted  pain,  and  made  himself  more  agreeable 
than  he  did  to  those  with  whom  he  could  not  avoid 
holding  constant  intercourse. 

Of  his  mode  of  proceeding  in  his  own  house,  I 
know  nothing,  never  having  had  the  honour  of 
being  his   guest  either   in  town    or   country,  but 


168       REMINISCENCES   OF    DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

wherever  else  I  chanced  to  meet  him,  he  was 
always  the  same.  He  took  no  part  whatever  in 
the  general  conversation  at  dinner,  and  when  an 
adjournment  to  the  drawing-room  took  place,  he 
withdrew  into  a  corner  apart,  and  unless  pursued 
by  some  irrepressible  admirer,  would  take  up  a  book 
and  read,  or  pretend  to  read.  It  was  one  of  his 
characteristics  that,  though  an  excellent  classical 
scholar,  he  had  no  real  taste  for  works  of  imagina- 
tion either  in  verse  or  prose.  Even  Sir  Walter's 
novels,  which,  when  I  first  met  him,  were  in  the  full 
blaze  of  their  popularity,  he  declared  himself  never 
to  have  read.  I  confess  that  hearing  him  say  this, 
I  took  it  for  granted  that  he  was  bamboozling  his 
questioner,  a  lady,  and  I  still  believe  that  it  must 
have  been  so.  But  being  destitute  himself  of 
imagination,  it  is  probable  enough  that  the  works 
of  Malthus  and  E-icardo  and  John  Stuart  Mill  were 
more  familiar  to  him,  and  better  relished  than  those 
of  Bulwer,  then  just  beginning  to  take  the  public 
by  storm,  or  even  Lord  Byron  or  Scott. 

A  story  is  told  of  the  late  Lord  Stanhope,  who, 
though  the  most  amiable  of  men,  and  a  man  of 
large  acquirements,  did  not  always  say  the  right 
thing  in  the  right  place,  that  seeing  the  Duke  of 
Wellington  in  front  of  him  in  the  Hyde  Park  Bide, 
he  drove  his  horse  furiously  against  that  of  the 
Duke,  well-nigh  dismounting  the  rider,  and  at  the 
same  time  asked  the  question,  "Duke,  what  is 
your  opinion  of  Sir  Bobert  Peel  ? "    The  reply  which 


SIR   ROBERT   PEEL  1G9 

the  Duke  evaded,  I  shall  do  my  best  to  give.  The 
Duke's  opinion  of  Sir  E,obert  Peel  varied  at  different 
periods  of  their  intimacy.  While  both  were 
members  of  Lord  Liverpool's  administration,  the 
Duke  thought  highly  of  Peel,  both  as  a  man  of 
talent  and  strict  integrity,  and  as  a  rival  to  Canning, 
in  whom  he  had  no  confidence.  Li  1828,  when  the 
care  of  forming  a  Cabinet  was  imposed  upon  him, 
the  first  step  the  Duke  took  was  to  request  Peel  to 
meet  him,  with  the  view  of  urging  upon  him  the 
acceptance  of  the  post  of  Prime  Minister.  •  Perhaps 
I  express  myself  a  little  too  strongly  in  saying  the 
Duke  urged  this  point.  It  would  be  more  correct 
perhaps  to  say  that  he  sounded  Peel  on  the  subject, 
for,  cautious  as  Peel  might  be,  the  Duke  on  all 
public  affairs  was  at  least  as  cautious,  and  there  is 
nothing  in  his  pubHc  correspondence  to  show  how 
far  he  went  in  this  or  any  other  direction.  They 
had  both  been  taught  from  the  issues  of  the  debates 
in  previous  sessions  of  Parliament  that  Catholic 
Emancipation,  the  great  question  of  the  day,  must 
sooner  or  later  be  settled,  and  the  problem  sub- 
mitted to  them  for  solution  was  how  best  this 
inevitable  end  might  be  achieved.  The  Duke, 
whose  opinions  on  that  head  were  based  on  ex- 
pediency and  not  on  principle,  took  oflice,  prepared 
himself  to  face  the  danger — for  a  great  danger  to 
party  stability  he  knew  the  attempt  to  carry 
such  a  measure  would  be — but  this  he  held  to 
be  less  fraught  with  mischief  than  an  endeavour 


170      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

to  carry  on  the  Government  under  existing  con- 
ditions. Peel  did  not  see  the  matter  in  the  same 
light.  He,  too,  felt,  and  indeed  acknowledged,  that 
the  policy  of  other  days  had  failed,  and  that  by 
making  the  repeal  of  the  laws  against  Catholics  an 
open  question  in  the  Cabinet,  ministers  had  paved 
the  way  for  emancipation.  At  the  same  time  he 
had  always  been  an  advocate  on  principle  of  resist- 
ance to  the  Catholic  claims,  and  to  take  now  an 
active  part  in  an  opposite  direction  must,  he  felt 
assured,  destroy  his  influence  in  the  country.  That 
the  Duke  with  great  difficulty  overcame  these 
scruples  is  well  known ;  that  he  was  grateful  for 
this  act  of  self-sacrifice  on  Peel's  part  is  equally 
certain.  Yet  it  is  scarcely  a  secret  now  that,  from 
the  date  of  the  passing  of  the  Catholic  Relief  Bill, 
the  two  statesmen  for  some  years  looked  coldly  the 
one  upon  the  othei:". 

I  never  met  Sir  Robert  Peel  at  Strathfieldsaye, 
and  only  once  at  Walmer  Castle  just  after  the 
passing  of  the  Catholic  Relief  Bill,  while  he  was 
still  Home  Secretary.  Facts  which  subsequently 
came  to  my  knowledge  were  then  hidden  from  me, 
otherwise  I  might  have  taken  a  more  accurate 
measure  of  the  relations  in  which  he  and  his  host 
stood  towards  one  another ;  for,  without  doubt,  a 
more  potent  cause,  than  that  which  I  accepted  for 
the  extreme  awkwardness  of  Peel's  manner,  would 
have  suggested  itself  to  me.  He  was  sore  under 
the   recollection   of  the   part   he    had   been   over- 


SIR   ROBERT   PEEL  171 

persuaded  to  play  in  carrying  the  measure,  while 
the  Duke  could  not  but  feel  how  cruelly,  through 
Peel's  deference  to  the  bishops,  its  chances  of 
success  in  bringing  permanent  peace  to  Ireland  had 
been  lessened.  The  Duke  was  indeed  too  much  of 
a  man  of  the  world  to  evince  in  his  manner  any 
coldness  towards  his  colleague.  On  the  contrary, 
he  did  his  best  to  put  Peel  at  his  ease,  by  treat- 
ing him  before  others  with  marked  cordiality,  and 
inviting  him  from  time  to  time,  as  was  natural,  to 
private  conferences  in  his  own  room ;  but  Peel 
would  not  be  enticed  out  of  his  reserve.  Of  what 
passed  between  them  during  these  conferences  I 
know  nothing.  All  that  I  do  know  is,  that  Peel 
took  no  pains  to  make  himself  agreeable  to  the  rest 
of  the  company,  and  that  after  a  while  he  was  left 
to  take  his  own  course. 

I  expressed  myself  with  hesitation  concerning  the 
Duke's  desire  that  Peel  should  undertake  the  con- 
duct of  the  Government  in  1828.  Of  his  repeating 
this  proposal  in  1830,  urging  its  acceptance,  there 
can  be  no  doubt.  The  death  of  George  iv.,  and  the 
accession  of  William  iv.,  seemed  to  him  to  offer  an 
excellent  opportunity  of  winning  back  the  old 
Tories,  in  the  face  of  opposition  from  whom  he 
could  not  well  see  how  the  Government  could  be 
carried  on  ;  and  believing,  as  he  did,  that  their 
hostility  was  against  himself  personally,  he  antici- 
pated no  doubt  that,  were  Peel  to  become  first 
Lord   of  the  Treasury,  they  would  all  take  office 


172      REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

under  him.  As  to  himself  he  would  promise  a 
cordial  support,  in  a  subordinate  office,  or  out  of 
it,  just  as  might  be  considered  most  conducive  to 
the  wellbeing  of  the  State.  Again  Peel  refused  to 
stand  in  the  breach,  and  the  Government  went  on 
as  before,  with  what  results,  as  soon  as  the  dissolu- 
tion came,  I  need  not  pause  to  describe  again  here. 
It  would  have  been  extraordinary  if  these 
repeated  differences  of  views  had  failed,  in  some 
degree  at  least,  to  break  in  upon  the  cordiality 
which  previously  held  the  two  statesmen  to- 
gether. Nor  did  Peel's  line  of  policy  run  parallel 
with  that  of  the  Duke  after  the  Whigs  brought 
forward  their  measure  of  parliamentary  reform. 
The  Duke  was  most  desirous  that  the  Bill  should 
be  met  at  once  with  a  refusal  to  read  it,  and  we 
know  now  that,  if  Peel  had  been  bold  enough  to 
act  on  this  suggestion,  a  considerable  majority  of 
the  House  of  Commons  would  have  supported  him. 
But  Peel  shrank  from  a  course  so  little  sanctioned 
by  parliamentary  usage,  and  the  first  reading  passed 
with  scarcely  a  dissentient  comment.  A  day  was 
fixed  for  the  second  reading,  after  an  interval  well 
chosen  to  suit  the  purposes  of  the  Cabinet.  Time 
was  thus  gained  for  working  on  the  hopes  of  the 
ambitious  and  the  fears  of  the  timid,  and  the 
Government,  though  successful  on  the  second  read- 
ing by  a  very  small  majority,  prevailed  upon  the  King 
to  dissolve.  From  that  moment  the  game  was  up. 
Even  if  the  Duke's  advice  had  been  followed,  and 


SIR   ROBERT   PEEL  173 

the  first  reading  of  the  Bill  been  refused,  the  old 
system  could  not  have  been  maintained  in  its 
integrity.  The  King  might,  and  probably  would, 
have  changed  his  ministers  rather  than  dissolve  a 
Parliament  which  had  been  only  a  few  months  in 
existence,  but  a  Reform  Act  of  some  sort  had  become 
inevitable,  and  the  best  thing  a  Tory  Government 
could  do  would  be  to  frame  one  on  the  lines  of  Mr. 
Pitt's  Bill,  unhappily  stifled  by  the  French  Bevolu- 
tion.  No  doubt,  even  this  would  have  caused 
divisions  in  the  party,  not,  however,  such  as  to 
destroy  it,  or  very  seriously  weaken  it. 

But  it  was  not  so  to  be.  Under  Peel's  guidance 
the  opponents  of  the  ministerial  measure  fought, 
in  the  House  of  Commons,  a  battle,  imperfect  suc- 
cess in  which  proved  fatal  to  themselves,  and  amid 
the  excitement  of  a  General  Election  (the  most 
remarkable  in  English  history)  one  cry  was  heard 
on  every  hustings,  "  The  Bill,  the  whole  Bill,  and 
nothing  but  the  Bill." 

I  look  back  upon  that  time,  now  more  than  half 
a  century  ago,  with  amazement.  Judicial  blindness 
seemed  to  fall  upon  the  nation,  for  not  one  voter  in 
a  thousand  had  the  most  remote  idea  of  the  con- 
sequences, either  to  himself  or  to  others,  of  what  he 
was  doing  ;  yet  everywhere,  even  in  small  boroughs, 
not  less  than  in  the  counties,  and  in  populous  towns, 
the  tide  ran  with  resistless  force  in  one  direction. 
Let  me  not  be  misunderstood.  I  am  not  now  in 
any  degree  what  the  excitement  of  a  great  political 


174      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

struggle  made  me  then,  to  a  certain  extent,  a 
defender  of  the  abuses  which,  in  1830,  overlaid  the 
constitution.  In  one  of  my  letters  to  the  Duke, 
which  his  son  did  not  publish,^  though  he  published 
his  father's  reply  to  it,  I  ventured  to  enumerate 
several  points  on  which  I  thought  concession  to 
public  opinion  might  advantageously  be  yielded, 
and  now  for  many  years  past  no  one  could  be  more 
satisfied  than  I  that  the  hurricane  of  1830  was 
brought  on  quite  as  much  by  the  neglect  of  the 
Tories  to  revive  between  1812  and  1827  Pitt's  wise 
measure,  as  by  the  boldness  of  the  Whigs  in  bidding 
high  for  office  in  1830.  Still,  even  at  this  hour, 
and  with  these  convictions  more  deeply  impressed 
upon  me  than  ever,  I  cannot  reflect  on  the  historical 
incidents  of  1830  without  positive  pain.  Other 
revolutions,  even  if  we  go  no  further  back  than  the 
great  Eebellion,  and  the  change  of  dynasty  in  1688, 
were  originated  and  guided  by  the  natural  leaders 
of  the  people.  The  revolution  of  1830  was  both 
originated  and  carried  through  in  opposition  to  the 
natural  leaders  of  the  people.  The  unnatural  alliance 
between  the  Government  and  the  mob  proved  too 
strong  for  the  wealth,  station,  and  intelligence  of 
the  country,  and  the  democracy  learned  thereby 
a  lesson  it  can  never  forget.  The  Church,  the 
Throne,  the  House  of  Lords,  the  order  of  society  as 
it  used  to  exist,  and  to  a  certain  extent  still  exists 
in  this  country,  are  all  at  the  mercy  of  the  mob, 

*  See  page  63. 


SIR   ROBERT    PEEL  175 

and  the  mob  knows  it.  Doubtless  the  decadence 
has  been  more  gradual  than  any  of  us  expected  it 
would  be,  when  we  vainly  strove  to  reason  with 
madmen.  But  not  the  less  steadily  has  it  gone  on 
till  we  have  reached  a  depth  but  a  little  way 
beneath  which  lies  democracy,  with  its  inevitable 
consequent — in  such  a  country  as  this — com- 
munism. 

Firm  in  his  own  conviction,  and  hoping  against 
hope  that  even  yet  the  country  might  be  brought 
to  see  the  dangers  that  threatened  society,  the 
Duke,  as  is  well  known,  induced  the  Lords  to 
throw  out  the  ministerial  measure,  and  when,  after 
a  brief  recess,  it  came  before  him  again,  he  accepted 
his  defeat  as  he  would  have  done  a  reverse  in  the 
field,  and  did  his  best  to  make  it  as  little  decisive 
as  possible.  Again  Peel  stood  apart  from  him.  He 
would  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  attempt  that 
was  made  to  take  the  question  out  of  the  hands  of 
those  who  had  raised  it,  by  forming  a  new  adminis- 
tration. It  was  no  secret  to  him  any  more  than  it 
was  to  the  Duke,  that  the  King's  eyes  had  been 
opened  to  the  deceits  that  were  practised  on  him, 
and  that  whatever  support  the  Crown  could  give 
to  ministers  would  be  given  to  a  Cabinet  of  which 
he  would  consent  to  be  a  member.  The  Crown's 
support,  even  when  backed  by  the  House  of  Lords, 
was  in  his  eyes  as  a  feather  in  the  scale  when 
weighed  against  the  will  of  the  House  of  Commons. 
Nor  could  he  be  brought  to  believe  either  that  there 


176       EEMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

were  existing  in  the  House  men  patriotic  enough 
to  postpone  their  own  crotchets  to  the  public  good, 
or  that  a  second  dissolution  could  effect  any  other 
purpose  than  to  bring  back  a  House  more  radically 
disposed  than  that  which  had  preceded  it.  The 
consequence  was  that  the  Duke  was  obliged  to 
abandon  any  attempt  to  form  an  administration, 
and  that  without  any  positive  break  between  them, 
he  and  Peel  ceased  for  a  while  to  take  counsel 
together. 

It  was  a  matter  of  surprise  to  me  at  the  time, 
that  after  meeting  Peel  at  Walmer  while  he  held 
office  under  the  Duke,  I  never  once  saw  him  there 
during  the  desperate  and  protracted  struggle  that 
followed  the  introduction  of  the  great  measure. 
For  surprise  there  was,  in  truth,  no  ground ;  much 
as  they  were  thrown  together,  and  highly  as  on 
the  whole  they  thought  of  one  another,  there  never 
lived  men  of  natures  so  divergent  as  those  osten- 
sible leaders  of  a  great  party.  The  Duke,  had  he 
lived  two  centuries  earlier,  would  have  played  a 
conspicuous  part  among  the  Cavaliers.  For  him 
the  Crown  was  the  source  not  only  of  honour,  but 
of  power,  and  it  was  the  duty  of  the  King's 
ministers  so  to  manage  Parliament,  as  that  while 
preserving  the  liberties  of  the  subject,  they  should 
uphold  in  their  integrity  the  Crown's  prerogatives. 
Steadily  refusing  himself  to  become  the  owner  of 
a  borough,  and  censuring  those  who  used  their 
boroughs  for  selfish  purposes,  he  stood  up,  both  in 


SIR   ROBERT    TEEL  177 

his  speeches  and  in  his  letters,  for  the  order  of 
things  which  he  found  in  existence,  any  change  in 
which,  by  throwing  open  the  constituency  to  the 
masses,  must  take  the  government  out  of  the 
hands  of  the  sovereign  and  deliver  it  over  to  the 
House  of  Commons.  He  had  other  objections  to 
Lord  Grey's  special  measure  which  I  need  not  here 
enumerate,  because  they  are  set  forth  at  length  in 
his  correspondence.  Peel,  disliking  Lord  Grey's 
measure  mainly  because  it  must  necessarily  change 
the  composition  of  the  House  in  which  the  minister 
for  the  time  being  could  usually  count  on  being 
supreme,  took  a  much  more  lowly  view  of  both  the 
rights  and  privileges  of  the  Crown,  which  he  held 
as  having  been  reduced  to  their  proper  dimen- 
sions by  the  Revolution  of  1688.  The  Duke  was 
a  Tory,  such  as  Tories  became  when  they  ceased  to 
be  Jacobites.  Peel  was  at  heart  a  Whig,  and  would 
have  acted  with  the  Whigs  from  the  beginning 
of  his  career,  had  they  not  gone  over  to  the 
Jacobins. 

It  was  in  the  House  of  Commons  and  for  the 
House  of  Commons  that  Peel  lived,  and  finding 
himself  after  Canning's  death  master  there,  he 
would  gladly  have  kept  it,  as  Canning  left  it,  an 
admirable  make-believe  of  the  People's  House, 
though  in  reality  a  well-chosen  oligarchy.  The 
principles  on  which  their  opposition  to  the  Whig 
measure  rested  were  not  the  same  therefore  with 
him  as  with  the  Duke.     The  Duke  fought  for  the 


178       REMINISCENCES   OF    DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

Crown  as  the  head,  not  of  the  United  Kingdom 
only,  but  of  the  great  British  Empire.  Peel  strove 
to  maintain  things  as  they  were,  because  they  gave 
him  a  House  of  Commons  which  he  believed  he 
could  manage. 

The  King's  strong  dislike  of  his  Whig  ministers 
soon  became  an  open  secret.  Their  financial  policy 
satisfied  nobody,  and  in  O'Connell,  who  had  been 
of  great  use  to  them  in  carrying  their  Reform 
Bill,  they  found  a  source  of  permanent  weakness. 
Great  differences  likewise  early  arose  in  the 
Cabinet,  of  which  the  outcome  was  that  the  Duke 
of  Kichmond,  Lord  Stanley,  and  Sir  James  Graham 
sent  in  their  resignations.  Lord  Grey,  himself, 
was  not  slow  in  following  their  example.  In  a  word, 
as  early  as  1834  it  became  apparent  that  the 
Government,  reconstituted  as  it  was  under  Lord 
Melbourne,  might  at  any  moment  fall  to  pieces. 
The  views  taken  of  the  situation  by  the  Duke  and 
Peel  respectively  were  again  at  variance.  The 
Duke,  convinced  that  the  Bevolution  begun  in 
1830  would,  unless  speedily  checked,  make  short 
work  with  the  great  institutions  of  the  country, 
was  all  for  supporting  the  King  in  his  avowed 
desire  to  change  his  ministers.  Peel,  thinking 
more  of  present  difiiculties  than  of  possible  evils  to 
come,  shrank  from  hazarding  a  conflict  in  which  he 
could  not  see  his  way  to  certain  victory.  Instead, 
therefore,  of  waiting  and  watching  as  the  Duke 
did,  he  became  suddenly  taken  with  a  desire — quite 


SIR    ROBERT    PEEL  179 

novel  to  him — for  foreign  travel.  The  consequence 
was  that  when  the  crisis  came,  the  King,  but  for  the 
extraordinary  courage  of  the  Duke,  must  have  been 
left  without  any  other  alternative  than  to  recall 
the  members  whom  he  had  just  dismissed.  In 
those  days  railroads  were  few  on  the  Continent, 
and  the  electric  telegraph  was  unknown.  I  never 
saw  the  Duke  more  put  out  than  on  his  return 
from  his  first  interview  with  the  King  at  Brighton. 
"Just  like  him,"  was  the  expression  he  made  use 
of  when  storming  at  Peel's  inopportune  absence 
from  the  country,  and  most  inopportune  it  certainly 
was.  If  he  had  been  at  hand,  either  his  refusal 
to  form  a  Conservative  administration  would  have 
stopped  the  movement  in  that  direction  at  once,  or 
he  would  have  hindered  a  dissolution  of  Parliament 
till  the  Commons  should  have  made  their  disloyalty 
so  obvious  as  seriously  to  alarm  the  constituencies. 
The  Duke's  bold  assumption  of  an  administration 
and  interview  left  him  no  choice  except  to  hurry 
home  and  accept,  though  with  undisguised  reluc- 
tance, the  responsibilities  with  which  he  was 
charged. 

I  am  not  in  a  condition  to  say  whether  the 
memorable  address  to  the  electors  of  Tamworth 
was  seen  by  the  Duke  before  it  was  published.  I 
am  inclined  to  believe  that  it  was  not,  because  the 
line  it  took  went  wide  of  the  Duke's  notions,  as 
usually  expressed,  and  caused  much  alarm  among 
a  considerable  section  of  the  party.     The  Whigs 


180      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

had  held  out  no  threat  of  interfering  with  the 
EstabUshed  Church  except  in  Ireland,  and  their 
plan  in  reference  to  it  in  that  country  had  lost 
them  the  support  of  some  of  the  most  influential 
of  their  colleagues.  That  Peel,  coming  in  as  the 
head  of  the  Tory  Government,  should  have  attacked, 
in  what  was  his  appeal  for  support,  existing  abuses 
in  the  Church  of  England,  could  be  accounted  for 
only  in  one  way.  It  seemed  impossible  that  he 
could  have  regarded  these  abuses  as  the  worst 
feature  in  England's  social  system,  otherwise  he 
would  have  made  an  effort  under  Lord  Liverpool  to 
correct  them.  But  now,  change  of  any  sort,  pro- 
vided it  weakened  the  influence  of  the  aristocracy, 
having  become  synonymous  with  reform.  Peel 
found  in  the  Established  Church  a  capital  subject 
on  which  to  operate.  The  bishops  had  made  them- 
selves unpopular  by  swelling  the  majority  in  the 
House  of  Lords,  which  had  once  dared  to  vote 
against  the  Reform  Bill,  and  the  unpopularity 
which  overtook  the  bishops  extended  to  the  whole 
body  of  the  clergy.  What  could  be  more  likely  to 
secure  Liberal  votes  at  the  hustings,  than  an 
assurance  from  the  Prime  Minister  that,  if  retained 
in  power,  he  would  avenge  the  people's  wrongs  on 
both  bishops  and  clergy.  Observe  that  I  am  far  from 
asserting  that  such  were  Peel's  reasons  for  medi- 
tating a  plan  of  reform  in  the  temporalities  of  the 
English  Church.  All  for  which  I  venture  to  blame 
him  is,  that,  instead  of  just  making  sure  of  his  own 


SIR   ROBERT    PEEL  181 

position  and  then  bringing  forward  his  scheme,  he 
should  have  put  in  the  forefront  of  his  manifesto  a 
declaration  which  all  who  read  looked  upon  as  a  bid 
for  votes,  likely  otherwise  to  go  against  him.  As 
I  have  already  said,  I  am  without  grounds  for 
forming  an  opinion  as  to  whether  or  no  Peel  took 
counsel  with  the  Duke  or  any  other  member  of  his 
Cabinet,  before  issuing  his  manifesto ;  but  ventur- 
ing on  one  occasion  to  express  regret  about  it  to 
the  Duke,  I  got  from  him  this  answer  :  "  Be  assured 
that  I  will  consent  to  no  changes  which  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury  and  other  heads  of  the 
Church  disapprove." 

Peel  failed,  as  is  well  known,  to  carry  the  House 
of  Commons  with  him.  The  majority  against  him 
was  not  great, — if  I  recollect  right,  something  under 
twenty.  Pitt,  under  similar  circumstances,  would 
have  held  on,  knowing  that  the  King  was  with 
him,  and  the  great  bulk  of  the  wealth  and  intelli- 
gence of  the  country.  But  Peel  was  not  Pitt,  and 
immediately  on  the  cessation  of  the  cheers  which 
greeted  the  Liberal  triumph.  Peel  announced  that 
his  Majesty's  ministers  would  retain  office  only  till 
their  successors  were  appointed. 

Peel's  brief  administration  began  and  ended  in 
1835.  The  Whigs  returned  to  Downing  Street 
under  the  presidency  of  Lord  Melbourne,  and  one 
of  the  first  objects  to  which  they  gave  their  atten- 
tion was  that  which  Peel  had  suggested  to  them 
in  his  Tamworth  manifesto. 


182      REMINISCENCES   OF    DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

They  found  a  scheme  ready  prepared  to  their 
hands,  and  at  once  adopted  it.  The  law  which  had 
heretofore  treated  each  separate  benefice  in  the 
Church  as  a  corporation  vote  was  to  be  set  aside. 
The  condition  of  the  prelates,  who  had  heretofore 
sat  in  the  House  of  Lords  in  right  of  their  baronies, 
was  to  be  altered.  An  Ecclesiastical  Commission, 
composed  mainly  of  laymen,  was  to  be  created,  and 
out-lands  seized,  and  Church  dignities  suppressed 
by  Act  of  Parliament ;  a  fund  was  to  be  provided, 
with  which  power  was  given  to  the  Commission  to 
deal,  avowedly  for  the  benefit  of  the  Church  at 
large. 

That  a  measure  so  sweeping,  which  placed  all 
orders  of  the  clergy  in  a  condition  which,  in  point 
of  fact,  left  it  doubtful  whether  they  had  not 
become  mere  dependencies  of  the  State,  should 
have  caused  great  alarm  among  the  body  so  affected 
cannot  surprise  any  one.  I  confess  myself  I  re- 
garded it  with  much  disfavour,  not  because  I  was 
adverse  to  the  objects  proposed  to  be  attained  by 
it,  but  because  the  means  adopted  for  their  attain- 
ment were  as  unconstitutional,  as  they  were  likely 
to  be  used  by  some  future  Government  in  justifica- 
tion of  other  and  more  drastic  remedies  for  the 
great  abuse  of  all,  the  existence  in  a  free  country 
of  an  endowed  and  established  Church. 

With  none  of  the  members  of  Lord  Melbourne's 
administration  had  I  any  acquaintance,  and  the 
London  press  was  closed  against  me  by  the  almost 


SIR    ROBERT    PEEL  183 

unanimous  approval  expressed  in  its  columns  of 
the  Tamworth  manifesto  when  first  published.  I 
made  up  my  mind  therefore,  not  without  great 
difficulty,  to  communicate  with  Sir  Robert  Peel 
himself  on  the  subject. 

The  following  correspondence  accordingly  passed 
between  us,  which  will  not,  I  imagine,  be  without 
interest,  as  showing  to  what  extent  thoughtful  men 
were  anxious  that  steps  should  be  taken,  not  to  get 
rid  of  Church  Reform,  but  so  to  conduct  it  as  to  avoid 
the  dangerous  consequences  with  which,  if  affected 
by  the  machinery  proposed  to  be  created,  it  might 
be  attended. 

"  London,  December  24,  1836. 
*'  Dear  Sir  Robert, — Were  the  subject  on  which 
I  venture  to  address  you  less  important  than  it  is, 
I  should  have  the  utmost  reluctance  to  intrude 
upon  your  attention,  especially  as  my  claims  to 
notice  on  the  score  of  personal  acquaintance  are 
very  slight.  But  the  question  which  I  am  going 
to  discuss  is  one  of  great  moment,  and  cannot,  I 
presume,  fail  to  be  perpetually  present  to  your  own 
mind.  I  allude  to  the  reform  of  the  Established 
Church,  and  to  the  suggestions  of  the  Commis- 
sioners, with  which  I  am  aware  you  have  no  imme- 
diate concern,  but  which  will  be  accepted  or  rejected 
or  modified,  in  all  probability  according  as  you  shall 
decide.  Pray,  pardon  me,  if,  having  felt  a  deep 
interest    in    the    matter   ever   since    I   read    your 


184       REMINISCENCES   OF    DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

address  to  the  Tamworth  electors,  I  presume  to 
lay  my  sentiments  before  you. 

"  What  is  done  cannot  be  undone.  The  re- 
modelling of  the  bishoprics  may  be  either  a  wise 
or  an  unwise  arrangement,  but  it  is  done,  and 
there  is  an  end  of  it.  And  its  advocates  have  this 
much  to  say  for  themselves,  that  as,  in  all  ages, 
bishops  have  had  the  power  to  alienate  their  estates 
for  pious  purposes,  so  the  mere  transfer  of  a  por- 
tion of  the  revenues  from  one  see  to  another,  both 
bishops  assenting,  affords  no  precedent  for  the 
work  of  spoliation.  But  the  recommendation  of 
the  Commissioners  in  reference  to  the  cathedral 
bodies,  what  shall  we  say  for  these  ?  We  cannot 
deny  that  there  is  spoliation  here,  for  the  deans 
and  chapters  unanimously  protest  against  the 
measure.  Is  it  to  be  carried  through  in  spite  of 
this  protest,  and  in  direct  opposition  to  the  wishes 
of  a  vast  majority  of  the  clergy  ? 

"Contrast,  I  pray  you,  the  advantages  and  the 
disadvantages  of  the  scheme.  There  is  a  grievous 
deficiency  of  church  room  in  the  country,  and  some 
thousands  of  the  old  benefices  are  so  poor  that 
they  cannot  maintain  their  clergy  in  residence. 
It  is  vain  to  look  to  Parliament  for  funds  sufficient 
to  repair  those  great  evils,  and  private  beneficence 
will  not  overtake  them.  Therefore  you  are  forced 
to  suppress  an  order  in  the  Church  and  to  devote 
the  revenues  of  that  order  to  parochial  purposes. 

"  And  now,  will  the  fund  which  you  obtain  from 


SIR    ROBERT   PEEL  185 

this  source  be  adequate,  or  nearly  so,  to  meet  the 
exigency  of  which  you  complain  ?  Say  that  you 
gain  £100,000  a  year — and  after  the  expenses  of 
collection  and  management  are  defrayed,  I  don't 
believe  you  will  get  more — how  far  will  this  go  ? 
There  are  probably  two  thousand  old  livings  in 
England  which  require  augmentation.  To  meet 
the  wants  of  a  growing  population,  at  least  as  many 
new  churches  will  scarcely  suffice.  Here  then  are 
four  thousand  demands  on  you,  the  first  two 
thousand  of  which  will  exhaust  all  your  fund,  yet 
give  to  each  needy  incumbent  no  greater  increase  of 
revenue  than  £50  a  year.  And  see  the  price  which 
you  pay  for  this  pittance.  You  unsettle  men's 
minds  on  Church  matters  altogether.  You  dis- 
satisfy the  clergy  themselves.  You  take  away  all 
intermediate  gradations  between  the  bishop  and 
the  parish  priest.  You  cut  off  the  scholar  and  the 
man  of  letters  from  the  hope  which,  through  long- 
years  of  toil  and  neglect,  may  have  supported  him. 
You  innovate  so  much  upon  the  constitution  of  the 
Church  as  practically  to  destroy  it,  for  the  deans 
and  chapters,  though  long  restrained  from  exercis- 
ing their  rights  (and  I  need  not  tell  you  that  the 
statute  of  Prcemunire  was  enacted  as  a  defence 
against  papal  usurpation),  are  still,  and  always  have 
been,  the  body  by  whom  the  bishops  are  elected. 
You  render  it  impossible  that  the  cathedral  services 
shall  anywhere  be  performed  with  decency,  or  the 
cathedrals  themselves  kept  in  decent  repair.     And 


186      REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

jou  give  the  advocates  of  spoliation  an  argument 
which  you  will  find  it  very  difficult  to  controvert, 
for  they  will  tell  you  with  truth  that  there  is  no 
such  thing  as  Church  property  in  the  abstract — that 
the  Church  is  not  a  corporation,  that  each  benefice 
is  a  corporation  in  itself,  and  that  if  you  are  justi- 
fied in  plundering  one,  in  order  to  enrich  another, 
you  are  equally  justified  in  plundering  both  for  the 
purpose  of  founding  schools  or  in  any  other  way 
educating  the  people. 

"  But  is  it  necessary,  in  order  to  make  the 
cathedral  funds  available  for  the  general  necessi- 
ties of  the  Church,  that  any  such  rude  expedient 
should  be  resorted  to  ?  I  do  not  think  it  is.  Adopt 
so  much  of  Lord  Henley's  scheme,  that  to  six  or 
eight  stalls  in  each  cathedral  the  pastoral  charge  of 
one  or  more  poor  benefices  shall  be  attached.  Do, 
in  fact,  in  all  cases  what  you  did  in  the  case  of 
Westminster,  only  reserving  three  or  four  prizes 
for  men  of  studious  habits,  and  the  good  which  you 
accomplish  will  be  much  more  immediately  felt  than 
if  you  fritter  away  in  driblets  the  spoils  of  the  whole 
chapter.  At  the  same  time,  provide  that  no  man 
shall  henceforth  hold  more  than  one  Church  dignity, 
and  make  the  chapters  aware,  after  all  is  done,  that 
they  are  expected  to  act  liberally  and  largely  on 
the  Act  which  the  archbishop  carried  through,  for 
the  purpose  of  enabling  the  patrons  of  poor  bene- 
fices to  augment  them. 

''  With  respect  to  the  patronage  of  the  chapters, 


SIR  ROBERT   PEEL  187 

I  regard  that  as  a  point  of  very  secondary  import- 
ance. I  think  the  bishops  will  do  themselves  no 
good  by  claiming  it,  and  I  am  quite  sure  that  much 
more  has  been  said  as  to  its  abuse  in  chapter  hands 
than  is  reasonable.  I  persuade  myself,  though  I 
have  no  other  authority  than  my  own  suspicions, 
that  the  chapters  would  not  hold  out  very  strongly 
against  that  point  were  their  numbers  kept  up, 
even  thouofh  dealt  with  as  I  have  ventured  to 
suggest. 

"  Pray  forgive  me  for  laying  these  suggestions 
before  you.  Were  you  what  you  must  soon  be- 
come— Prime  Minister — I  should  not  have  troubled 
you  ;  but  at  present  you  may  have  leisure  to  think 
on  the  subject,  and  I  am  sure  that  the  conclusions 
at  which  you  arrive  will  be  dictated  by  an  honest 
desire  to  promote  the  best  interests  of  the  Church. 

"Believe  me,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient 
servant,  G.  R.  Gleig." 

"  Drayton  Manor,  Tuesday,  January  3,  1837. 

"  My  dear  Sir, — It  is  much  to  be  lamented  that 
any  serious  division  of  opinion  should  have  arisen 
among  the  members  and  friends  of  the  Church  in 
respect  to  the  recommendations  of  the  Church 
Commission. 

"I  will  not  enter  into  details  of  any  measures 
suggested  by  the  Commissioners,  and  will  only 
remark  that  objections  urged  against  such  details 
should,  in  my  opinion,  receive  the  fullest  and  most 


188       REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE   OF    WELLINGTON 

respectful  consideration,  particularly  where  they 
are  urged  by  persons  sincerely  attached  to  the 
interests  of  the  Church. 

"  I  confess  I  see  nothing  to  repent  of,  or  regret, 
in  the  arrangements  made  with  regard  to  the 
bishoprics.  To  have  one  bishopric  overloaded  with 
duties,  which  no  human  strength  can  perform, 
while  another  has  comparatively  few,  cannot  surely 
be  for  the  spiritual  interests  of  the  Church. 

"  I  must  also  say,  as  a  member  of  the  Church  of 
England,  and  sincerely  anxious  for  its  welfare,  a 
rigid,  unvarying,  adherence  to  the  present  distri- 
bution of  Church  property  (considering  the  total 
destitution  of  many  very  populous  places  in  respect 
of  religious  instruction)  would  not  be  satisfactory 
to  me,  apart  from  all  considerations  of  a  political 
nature.  I  should  view  with  very  great  regret,  for 
instance,  in  the  event  of  a  vacancy,  the  appointment 
of  a  Dean  of  Durham,  with  emolument  of  £8000  or 
£9000  a  year,  and  not  any  onerous  duties  to  dis- 
charge, while  in  the  diocese  of  Durham  there  are 
thousands,  and  tens  of  thousands,  who  never  heard 
the  doctrines  of  the  Established  Church,  for  want 
of  the  means  to  inculcate  them. 

"  We  must  look  at  all  sides  of  the  question,  and 
can  we  be  surprised  at  the  amount  and  increase  of 
dissent,  unless  we  make  some  vigorous  effort  to 
recommend  our  own  religious  faith  ?  Will  laymen 
undertake  this  duty,  if  the  Church  shall  refuse  to 
set  the  example  "?     Or  will  Parliament,  as  at  present 


SIR   ROBERT   PEEL  189 

constituted,  supply  the  means  by  public  grants  ?     I 
think  not. — Very  faithfully  yours, 

"  TloBERT  Peel." 

Though  somewhat  surprised  to  find  a  man  of  Sir 
Robert  Peel's  great  knowledge  appearing  to  re- 
gard as  synonymous  the  terms  "the  Church"  and 
"  the  Clergy,"  I  did  not  think  it  worth  while  to 
notice  the  blunder  ;  but  wrote  to  him  the  following- 
letter  in  answer  to  his  apology  for  the  proposed 
attack  by  Parliament  on  particular  benefices  : — 

"London,  January  6,  1837. 

"  Dear  Sir  Robert, — I  am  much  obliged  to  you 
for  the  trouble  you  have  taken  in  replying  at  so 
much  length  to  my  letter. 

"  I  do  not  believe  there  are  ten  men  in  Enofland 
so  blind  to  the  state  of  the  country  as  not  to  be 
aware  that  changes,  and  great  changes,  in  the  dis- 
tribution of  what  is  called  Church  property  have 
become  necessary.  The  sole  question  at  issue, 
therefore,  is,  How  shall  these  changes  be  eftected 
so  as  to  innovate  as  little  as  possible  upon  the  con- 
stitution of  the  Church,  and  by  so  doing  diminish 
its  influence,  while  at  the  same  time  admitted  evils 
are  lessened,  if  they  cannot  be  entirely  got  rid  of? 
The  Church  Commissioners  recommend  measures 
which,  while  they  will  certainly  not  satisfy  the 
Church's  enemies,  distress  and  alarm  her  best 
friends  ;   and  the  worst  of  it   is  that   were    these 


190      REMINISCENCES  OF    DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

schemes  carried  into  effect  to-morrow,  we  should, 
as  far  as  the  supply  of  adequate  church  accommo- 
dation is  concerned,  be  little,  if  at  all,  the  better 
for  them.  What  we  say  is,  spare  the  minor  digni- 
ties as  far  as  you  can,  and  render  them  what  they 
once  were,  and  always  ought  to  have  been,  nur- 
series of  theological  learning,  and  a  connecting  link 
between  the  bishops  and  the  parish  priest,  and  we 
think  we  can  point  out  means  more  effectual  than 
yours  for  the  purposes  which  both  of  us  are  trying 
to  effect. 

"You  very  justly  ask.  Shall  the  Dean  of  Durham 
be  left  with  his  £8000  or  £9000  a  year,  w^hile  there 
are  tens  of  thousands  of  persons  in  the  diocese  of 
Durham  to  whom  the  doctrines  of  the  Established 
Church  are  never  preached  ?  Our  answer  is, 
Decidedly  not.  But  while  you  strive  to  make 
the  Deanery  of  Durham  available  for  the  spiritual 
wants  of  these  untaught  multitudes,  do  not  mar 
your  own  work  by  confiscating  seven-eighths  of 
its  revenues,  and  making  over  the  spoil  to  a  central 
or  general  board.  There  are  many  chapter  livings 
in  Newcastle  and  other  great  towns  of  the  North 
which  do  not  provide  their  incumbents  with  a 
competency.  There  is  a  grievous  lack  of  church 
accommodation  both  in  these  towns  and  elsewhere. 
After  you  have  provided  the  dean  with  an  ade- 
quate maintenance,  cause  him  to  augment  the  small 
benefices  in  his  own  gift,  and  when  that  shall  have 
been  efficiently  done,  make  him  endow  new  churches. 


SIR    ROBERT    PEEL  191 

Deal  in  the  same  way  with  all  your  cathedrals. 
There  is  not  a  diocese  in  England  in  which 
claims  enough  of  this  legitimate  order  cannot  be 
advanced.  But  do  not  shock  the  moral  feelings 
of  the  country,  and  waste  your  own  resources,  by 
arbitrarily  suppressing  so  many  canons  in  each 
chapter,  and  handing  over  their  revenues,  as  well 
as  the  plunder  of  the  deans,  to  a  Board  of  Church 
Commissioners.  I  am  not  casuist  enoufjh  to  con- 
tend  that  there  would  be  in  this  no  interference 
with  the  rights  of  property,  but  I  am  certain  that 
the  interference  will  be  much  less  flagrant,  and 
establish  a  much  less  fatal  precedent,  than  the 
measure  proposed  by  the  Commissioners,  while 
the  good  arising  from  it  would  be  at  once  more 
conspicuous  and  more  important  because  occurring 
in  places  where  everybody  would  be  alive  to  the 
value  of  the  benefit  received  and  acquainted  with 
the  sources  from  which  it  came.  Besides,  central 
boards,  particularly  boards  over  which  ecclesiastics 
preside,  are  not  famous  for  managing  their  funds 
judiciously.  When  the  late  treasurer  of  Queen 
Anne's  bounty  died  there  was  a  deficiency  in  his 
accounts  of  something  like  £30,000  or  £40,000, 
and  who  will  undertake  to  insure  the  new  Board 
of  Church  Commissioners  from  a  similar  calamity  ? 

"  But  there  is  another  and  a  still  more  pro- 
ductive source  open  to  you  in  a  readjustment  of 
the  scale  on  which  first-fruits  are  levied  on  all 
benefices  above  a  certain  value.      You    are   aware 


192      REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

that  the  scale  now  in  use  was  established  during 
the  reign  of  Henry  viii.  Why  adhere  to  it  ?  Why 
not  consult  your  Clerical  Guide,  which,  owing  to 
the  returns  recently  made  to  the  Commissioners,  is 
for  such  a  purpose  accurate  enough,  and  recast  this 
machinery  ?  What  if  you  required  every  benefice, 
of  which  the  net  annual  proceeds  amounted  to 
£250,  to  pay  £50  as  first-fruits  into  Queen  Anne's 
bounty  ?  You  might  then  proceed  upon  an  ascend- 
ing scale,  till  from  all  livings  of  £1000  a  year  and 
upwards  one-third  should  be  exacted  as  their  con- 
tributions. I  am  aware  of  the  popular  objection  to 
this — that  it  would  be  hard  upon  a  man  when  first 
presented  to  a  benefice  to  have  so  large  an  addition 
made  to  the  heavy  expenses  attendant  on  induc- 
tion. But  the  general  advantages  to  be  gained 
would  so  far  exceed  their  opposites  that  even  the 
individuals  affected  by  the  arrangement  would  raise 
no  voice  against  it. 

"  I  will  not  waste  your  time  by  saying  one  word 
relative  to  the  bishoprics.  I  wish,  indeed,  they 
had  not  been  reduced  to  the  condition  of  State 
pensioners  by  the  clause  which  subjects  their 
revenues  to  periodical  adjustment,  and  sends  them 
to  the  Commissioners  for  their  stipends ;  and  I  do 
regret  sincerely  that  the  Commission  itself  is  to  be 
from  henceforth  the  organ  by  which  the  financial 
afiairs  of  the  Church  of  England  are  to  be  managed. 

"There  is  but  one  thing  more  to  which  I  would 
shortly  allude.     In   dealing  with    pluralities,    the 


SIR   ROBERT    PEEL  193 

recommendation  of  the  Commissioners,  if  adopted, 
will  preserve  for  us  all  the  odium  and  none  of  the 
benefits  of  the  system.  If  money  value,  and  not 
the  distance  of  one  benefice  from  another,  were 
made  the  criterion,  things  would  be  better.  But 
the  real  truth  is  that  the  best  arrangement  for  the 
Church  would  be  the  suppression  of  pluralities 
altogether. 

"  Once  more  apologising  for  the  demand  I  have 
made  upon  your  time  and  attention,  believe  me  to 
be,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  and  obliged 
servant,  G.  R.  Gleig." 

To  this  letter  I  received  in  due  course  the  follow- 
ing answer,  and  then  our  correspondence  ended. 
Peel's  scheme  of  Church  reform  was  carried  into 
effect,  and  not  long  after  the  Commissioners  were 
beginning  to  think  of  distributing  a  portion  of 
their  funds,  their  secretary  disappeared.  He  had 
speculated  in  railways  with  the  proceeds  of 
suppressed  canonries,  and  his  accounts,  being 
examined,  showed  a  deficiency  of  something  like 
£150,000.  The  scandal  was  hushed  up,  though 
whether  the  Commissioners  considered  themselves 
bound  to  make  good  the  loss  to  the  Church,  I  never 
heard. 

"Drayton  Manor,  January  25,  1837. 
**  My  dear  Sir, — You  must  not  attribute  either 
the  delay  in  answering   your   last   letter,    or   the 
brevity  of  my    reply,  to    the  slightest    feeling    of 

N 


194      REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

indifference  towards  your  sentiments  on  the  great 
question  on  which  you  have  addressed  me.  On  the 
contrary,  I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  the  com- 
munication, and  have  read  it  since  my  return  from 
Glasgow  with  the  attention  to  which  it  is  so  justly 
entitled.  But  I  have  been  in  such  an  incessant 
whirl  of  occupation  since  your  letter  reached  me, 
and  have  still  such  an  arrear  of  correspondence,  that 
I  must  restrict  myself  to  the  assurance  that  under 
all  my  engagements  your  letter  has  not  been  over- 
looked, and  that  I  thank  you  for  it. — Believe  me, 
my  dear  sir,  very  faithfully  yours, 

"Egbert  Peel." 

I  should  travel  very  wide  of  the  course  which  in 
these  sketches  I  had  traced  out  for  myself  w^ere  I 
to  follow  in  detail  Peel's  subsequent  career.  But  it 
is  necessary  to  account  in  some  degree  for  the 
extraordinary  importance  which  the  Duke  ap- 
peared latterly  to  attach  to  retaining  him  at  the 
head  of  the  Government.  It  had  its  source  much 
more  in  distrust  of  the  new  leaders  of  the  Con- 
servative party  than  in  absolute  confidence  in 
Peel  himself  The  resolution  to  repeal  the  Corn 
Laws,  at  which  Peel  so  unexpectedly  arrived,  dis- 
tressed the  Duke  beyond  measure.  He  could  not 
see  how  such  a  procedure  could  in  any  way  tend  to 
alleviate  the  distress  in  Ireland.  Cheap  food  is  no 
more  accessible  than  dear  food  to  men  who  are 
destitute  of  money  wherewith  to  purchase  it.     To 


SIR   ROBERT   PEEL  195 

a  Government  compelled  to  dispense  food  gratui- 
tously to  a  starving  population,  nothing  could  be 
more  easy  than  to  abstain  during  the  continuance 
of  the  famine  from  levying  any  duty  on  corn 
imported  into  the  suffering  provinces. 

The  ferocity,  however,  with  which  Peel  was 
assailed  by  members  sitting  behind  him  in  con- 
sequence of  the  changes  he  had  previously  intro- 
duced into  the  commercial  policy  of  the  country 
showed  so  determined  a  purpose  to  oust  him  from 
the  leadership  of  the  party,  that  the  Duke,  taught 
by  experience  how  difficult  it  is  to  reconcile 
political  differences  based  on  personal  antipathies, 
conceived  himself  bound  to  sacrifice  his  own  con- 
victions rather  than  countenance  in  any  degree  the 
proceedings  of  Mr.  Disraeli  and  his  supporters. 

That  Peel  mismanao-ed  in  1846  the  business  he 
had  set  himself  to  carry  through,  both  those  who 
approve,  and  those  who  still  regret,  the  total 
repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws,  must  now  admit.  Had 
he  called  the  party  together  and  explained  his 
views,  leaving  it  to  them  to  decide  whether  he 
should  take  the  lead  in  carrying  them  into  effect, 
or  resign,  the  party,  whatever  its  determination, 
might  have  kept  together.  But  to  execute  a 
second  surprise  upon  them  was  more  than  the 
English  aristocracy  could  endure.  It  was  not, 
however,  in  Peel's  nature  to  conciliate  by  any 
appearance  of  openness  those  whom  he  con- 
descended to  lead. 


196      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

The  Duke's  fidelity  to  Peel  was  the  more  to  be 
commended  that  Peel,  during  his  tenancy  of  office 
as  Prime  Minister,  did  not  always  treat  the  veteran 
statesman  and  soldier  with  the  respect  and  deference 
that  were  due  to  him.  The  Duke,  be  it  remembered, 
accepted  a  seat  in  Peel's  Cabinet  without  a  port- 
folio, and  though  red  boxes  came  to  him  from  day 
to  day,  it  is  doubtful  whether  they  always  con- 
tained their  full  measure  of  papers.  It  is  certain 
that  he  felt,  and  to  his  most  intimate  friends 
occasionally  complained  of,  something  like  undue 
reticence  on  the  part  of  his  colleague.  A  single 
example  of  the  nature  of  the  relations  which  sub- 
sisted between  the  two  men  at  that  time  may  be 
given.  It  happened  one  day  during  the  early 
progress  of  the  Irish  famine  that  the  Duke,  riding 
down  by  the  Green  Park  from  Apsley  House  to  the 
Horse  Guards,  was  overtaken  by  Peel.  There  had 
been  discussions  in  the  Cabinet  on  the  previous 
afternoon  regarding  the  measure  which  it  might 
be  prudent  to  adopt  under  the  circumstances,  and 
the  Duke,  remembering  how  open  he  himself  used 
to  be  when  First  Lord  of  the  Treasury,  naturally 
expected  that  Peel  would  enter  at  once  upon  the 
subject.  No  advance  in  this  direction  having  been 
made  by  Peel,  the  Duke  referred  in  general  terms 
to  the  recent  discussion.  He  was  answered  after  a 
most  diplomatic  fashion  in  vague  platitudes,  under 
cover  of  which  the  conversation  took  a  different 
turn.     And  the  two  men  held  on  their  course,  till, 


SIR  ROBERT   PEEL  197 

on  reaching  the  parade  ground  in  front  of  the 
Horse  Guards,  Peel  wished  the  Duke  good-morn- 
ing, and  rode  off  in  the  direction  of  Storey's  Gate. 
The  Duke  felt  this  slight,  for  such  it  was,  very 
keenly,  yet,  loyal  to  the  last,  he  thrust  personal 
feeling  into  the  background,  and,  as  he  himself 
expressed  it,  "  holding  as  more  important  than 
any  laws  the  retention  of  Peel  in  office,"  he  used 
his  influence  in  the  House  of  Lords,  and  ensured 
thereby  the  passing  of  a  Bill  of  which  he  entirely 
disapproved. 

How  Peel  bore  himself  subsequently  to  the  dis- 
ruption of  the  Tory  party  all  the  world  knows. 
His  adherents,  never  many  in  number,  gradually 
fell  away  from  him,  till  there  remained  only  a  little 
knot  of  able  men,  of  whom  the  late  Lady  Theresa 
Lewis  used  to  say  that  they  were  "  always  putting 
themselves  up  to  auction  and  buying  themselves  in 
again."  To  this,  however,  they  came,  only  after 
the  sudden  and  melancholy  death  of  their  leader. 
With  the  Duke  he  had  kept  little  or  no  intercourse 
during  the  remainder  of  his  life,  though  few  took 
more  to  heart  than  the  Duke  the  sad  tidings  of 
its  extinction. 


CHAPTER    IV 

"dii  minorum  gentium" 

I  DO  not  know  how  far  the  Right  Honourable 
Charles  Arbuthnot  and  his  charming  wife  ought 
in  strict  propriety  to  be  ranged  under  this  heading. 
If  we  look  to  the  decree  of  estimation  in  which 
they  were  held  by  the  Duke,  their  names  ought 
undoubtedly  to  stand  elsewhere.  If  we  take  into 
account  the  influence  for  good  or  evil  of  their 
own  work  on  society,  then  I  give  them  their  proper 
place  in  this  catalogue  of  worthies.  Whether  right 
or  wrong  in  thus  acting,  of  this  I  am  sure,  that 
they  themselves,  were  it  possible  to  consult  them, 
would  be  satisfied  with  the  arrangement.  Be  this, 
however,  as  it  may,  the  course  of  action  left  open 
to  me  by  the  plan  of  the  present  book  is  obvious. 
I  can  speak  of  men  and  women  only  as  I  knew 
them,  and  was  able  to  judge  from  what  they  said 
and  did  in  my  presence  of  their  lives  and  habits 
elsewhere. 

Charles  Arbuthnot  played  his  first  conspicuous 
part  as  a  public  man  in  diplomacy.  He  repre- 
sented the  English  Court  at  Constantinople  at  the 
period  of  Admiral  Duckworth's  abortive  attempt 

198 


CHARLES   ARBUTHNOT  199 

to  overcome  the  Porte,  and  was  subsequently 
appointed  to  various  offices  of  trust  in  the  Home 
Government.  Twice  married,  he  had  by  his  first 
wife  one  son,  who  achieved  rapid  promotion  in 
the  army,  and  died  a  few  years  ago,  a  general 
officer.  His  second  wife.  Miss  Fane,  brought  him 
no  children,  and  was  still,  so  to  speak,  a  bride, 
when  he  and  she  in  1814  visited  Paris,  where  the 
Duke  was  British  Ambassador.  Arbuthnot  was 
then  between  forty  and  fifty  years  of  age.  He 
was  decidedly  good-looking,  fair  in  complexion, 
with  a  figure  slightly,  though  not  feebly  framed. 
His  manners  were  singularly  gentle,  it  might 
almost  be  said  feminine.  He  gave  you  the  im- 
pression— and  it  was  a  perfectly  correct  one — that 
you  had  before  you  a  man  of  at  least  average 
ability,  of  considerable  information,  and  of  great 
prudence.  Whether  his  acquaintance  with  the 
Duke  began,  or  was  only  renewed,  in  Paris,  I  do 
not  know ;  but  this  is  certain,  that  they  took  to 
one  another  with  a  warmth  and  sincerity  of  friend- 
ship which  never  during  the  remainder  of  their 
lives  sufi'ered  the  sliofhtest  abatement.  Never 
were  two  men  ostensibly  more  unlike.  Bold, 
ambitious,  resolute,  a  born  ruler  of  men,  the 
Duke's  bearing  contrasted  forcibly  wdth  that  of 
his  timid  and  retiring  friend  ;  yet  it  was  precisely 
this  divergency  of  gifts  which  drew  the  two  to- 
gether. I  speak,  of  course,  of  what  occurred  after 
the   Duke  had  virtually   sheathed  his  sword    and 


200      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

begun  to  take  part  in  the  management   of  civil 
affairs.       From    1815    to    1818  his   attention   was 
given  up  as  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  army  of 
occupation    to    foreign   policy.       Hence   when   he 
joined  Lord  Liverpool's  administration,  he  did  so, 
strong   in   good   sense,    but   entirely  ignorant,    or 
nearly  so,  of  the  usages  of  Cabinets.     Now  Arbuth- 
not,  besides  having  been  all  his  life  a  civil  servant, 
was  gifted  with  a  marvellous  memory  as  well  in 
small  matters  as  in  great.     Whatever  the  subject 
might  be  on  which  the  Duke  desired  to  be  informed, 
he  found  in  Arbuthnot  a  walking  almanac.     And 
of    infinite  use   to    him,    after    he   became    Prime 
Minister,  was  the  facility  with  which  he  could,  so 
to  say,  in  a  moment,  quote  precedents  for  arrange- 
ments of  which  others  might  call  in  question  either 
the  legality  or  the  expediency.     It  was  not,  how- 
ever, in  matters  of  public  moment  exclusively  that 
Arbuthnot  got  the  credit  of  being  serviceable  to  the 
Duke.     If  information  was  needed  respecting  the 
conduct   and   character   of  individuals   (and  when 
patronage  is  to  be  dispensed,   and  applicants  are 
numerous,  such  information  must  often  be  needed), 
Arbuthnot  was  the  channel  through  which  it  was 
usually  sought.     He  was,  moreover,  perfectly  trust- 
worthy— that  is  to  say,  he  never  repeated  a  remark 
carelessly  dropped  in  conversation,  much  less  dis- 
closed a  secret,  under  any  circumstances,  confided 
to  him.     Whatever  the  value  might  be  which  the 
Duke  attached  to  his  opinions,  it  is  certain  that  to 


CHARLES    ARBUTHNOT  201 

nobody  was  the  Duke's  confidence  more  unreservedly 
given  than  to  Arbuthnot,  nor  was  there  any  one  in 
whose  society  he  found  greater  satisfaction.  The 
friends  of  great  men,  not  being  themselves  great, 
are  everywhere  exposed,  both  in  their  actions  and 
their  motives,  to  misrepresentation  ;  and  Arbuth- 
not's  case  was  no  exception  to  the  rule.  Some 
declared  him  to  be  a  spy,  not  in  society  at  large, 
but  on  individuals  in  whom  the  Duke  took  an 
interest.  Others  went  so  far  as  to  insinuate 
that  he  was  not  above  making  the  most  delicate 
sacrifice  in  order  to  ingratiate  himself  with  his 
patron.  As  far  as  I  am  myself  concerned,  I  entirely 
disbelieve  and  denounce  the  latter  base  insinuation, 
and  to  the  former  I  give  only  as  much  credit  as  is 
due  to  the  authority  on  which  it  rests.  But  of  the 
Duke's  sincere  and  lasting  friendship  for  Arbuth- 
not, and  Arbuthnot's  devotion  to  the  Duke,  the 
surest  credence  is  afforded  in  the  lives  of  the  two 
men.  No  higher  gratification  could  come  to 
Arbuthnot  than  in  trying  to  anticipate  the 
Duke's  wishes ;  nor  in  the  companionship  of  any 
other  man  did  the  Duke  take  greater  pleasure. 
Now,  looking  to  the  character  of  the  Duke  of 
Wellington,  of  this  we  may  be  sure,  that  though 
he  might  tolerate  the  acquaintance  of  one  who  was 
useful  to  him,  he  was  incapable  of  making  a  close 
friend  of  any  one  whom  he  could  not  respect. 
Arbuthnot  was  his  close  friend  to  the  last.  After 
both  had  become  widowers,  Arbuthnot  gave  up  his 


202      REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

house  in  Carlton  Terrace,  and  at  once  had  apart- 
ments in  Apsley  House.  His  place  in  the  country 
he,  of  course,  retained,  and  was  in  the  habit  of 
spending  some  time  there  when  the  Duke  left  town  ; 
but  his  home  may  be  said  to  have  been  under  the 
Duke's  roof  from  the  day  of  his  wife's  death,  and 
under  that  roof  he  died  at  last,  the  Duke,  as  chief 
mourner,  following  him  to  his  grave  in  Kensal 
Green  Cemetery. 

It  is  not,  however,  too  much  to  say,  that  had 
there  been  no  Mrs.  Arbuthnot,  or  had  Mrs. 
Arbuthnot  been  different  from  what  she  was, 
Arbuthnot's  influence,  not  with  the  Duke  only, 
but  with  the  Government  of  which  the  Duke  was  a 
member,  might  have  failed  to  reach  the  point  which 
it  achieved.  When  first  introduced  to  the  Duke  in 
Paris,  she  must  have  been  perfectly  beautiful.  In 
1828,  when  I  made  her  acquaintance,  she  was  still 
most  attractive.  The  bloom  of  youth  might  indeed 
be  gone,  but  there  remained  the  soft  brown  eye,  a 
profusion  of  brown  silky  hair,  features  both  regular 
and  expressive,  and  a  figure  singularly  graceful. 
But  there  was  much  more  to  admire  in  her  than 
this.  To  great  natural  abilities  there  was  added 
a  large  stock  of  knowledge,  acquired  both  from 
books  and  from  intercourse  with  men.  Her  con- 
versation was  in  consequence  always  agreeable, 
often  brilliant,  without  the  slightest  apparent  effort 
made  to  go  out  of  the  common  ruck.  To  her  like- 
wise belonged  a  charm,  which,  when    intellectual 


MRS.    ARBUTHNOT  203 

women  can  boast  of  it,  renders  them  mistresses 
of  all  hearts.  She  sympathised,  or  appeared  to 
do  so,  even  with  those  from  whose  opinions  she 
dissented.  Whether  her  intimacy  with  the  Duke 
created  the  taste,  or  whether  her  taste  was  intuitive, 
the  subject  which  most  deeply  interested  her  was 
politics.  Her  views  were,  of  course,  the  Duke's 
views  on  all  disputable  points,  so  much  so  indeed, 
that  from  her  men  generally  believed  he  kept  no 
secret.  I  venture  to  doubt  the  fact ;  because  the 
Duke,  though  by  no  means  indifferent  to  female 
blandishments,  possessed  the  quality  of  caution  to 
a  greater  extent  than  any  other  public  man  of  his 
day.  He  was  well  tried  at  the  Congress  of  Vienna 
by  all  the  leading  beauties  of  Europe.  He  fooled 
them  to  the  top  of  their  bent,  and  encouraged 
them  to  imagine  that  they  were  paying  him  off 
in  kind ;  but  not  one  secret  did  they  worm  out 
of  him, 

I  believe  that  so  it  was  with  Mrs.  Arbuthnot. 
More  perhaps  than  any  living  woman  he  trusted 
her  ;  but  till  her  journal  sees  the  light,  if  it  ever 
see  it,  he  will  arrive  at  the  most  probable  con- 
clusion who  assumes — that  there  were  in  the 
Duke's  heart  and  mind  records  which  she  was 
never  permitted  to  read.  Mrs.  Arbuthnot  had 
a  large  spice  of  jealousy  in  her  composition. 
She  was  jealous  of  all  who  came  about  the  Duke 
and  were  admitted  into  closer  intimacy  than  of 
common    acquaintance.       This    remark,    however, 


204      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

applies  more  to  men  than  to  women,  for  her 
jealousy  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  love  in 
the  common  acceptation  of  the  term.  What  she 
aspired  to  engross  was  the  Duke's  confidence,  and 
having  no  fear  that  any  member  of  her  own  sex 
could  come  between  her  and  the  object  of  her 
wishes,  she  looked  with  perfect  complacency  on 
their  endeavours  to  engross  him.  It  was  not  so 
with  men,  and  especially  with  new  men.  I  mean 
with  those  with  whom  the  Duke  had  recently 
become  acquainted,  and  with  whom  the  pressure 
of  events  might  have  induced  him  to  take 
counsel.  Of  these  she  was  obviously  jealous  ;  and 
as  the  Duke  was  believed  to  make  use  of  her,  in 
testinoj  the  discretion  of  his  new  friends,  so  the 
whisper  went  round  that  she  did  not  scruple  to 
keep  them  apart  from  him,  to  misrepresent  at 
times  the  result  of  her  investigations.  I  should 
be  slow  to  credit,  except  on  the  strongest  evidence, 
the  truth  of  this  scandal.  That  she  did  test  for 
him,  occasionally,  the  discretion  of  those  in  whom 
he  meditated  reposing  an  important  confidence,  I 
have  the  best  reason  to  know.  But  that  she  mis- 
represented the  issues  of  the  trial,  I  do  not  believe. 
The  case  was  this. 

At  that  eventful  period  elsewhere  referred  to, 
when  the  Reform  Bill  was  thrown  out  in  the  Lords, 
and  certain  Peers,  unable  to  see  their  way  further, 
entered  into  negotiations  with  Earl  Grey,  the  Duke, 
who  disbelieved  in  any  possible  compromise,  while 


MRS.    ARBUTHNOT  205 

the  Whigs  retained  office,  and  was  therefore  bent 
on  fighting  the  battle  out  to  the  bitter  end,  wrote 
to  me  and  requested  that  I  would  come  to  him  at 
Strathfieldsaye  and  there  write  a  pamphlet,  for 
which  he  would  supply  me  with  materials.  He  at 
the  same  time  explained  its  object ;  that  it  w^as 
intended  to  warn  other  Peers  from  being  misled 
into  the  notion  that  anything  the  Waverers,  as 
they  were  called,  could  say  or  do,  would  have  the 
smallest  effect  in  hindering  Earl  Grey  from  passing 
his  measure  in  its  integrity,  even  if  to  effect  this  it 
might  be  necessary  to  coerce  the  King  into  the 
creation  of  an  unlimited  number  of  new  Peers.  I 
was  not  much  disposed  to  undertake  the  task, 
partly  because  I  distrusted  my  own  ability  to  do 
full  justice  to  the  subject,  and  partly  because,  owing 
to  my  parochial  duties  at  Ash,  and  the  pressure  of 
literary  work  which  had  fallen  cruelly  into  arrears, 
I  did  not  desire  at  that  time  to  leave  home.  I 
therefore  suggested  that  the  Duke  should  send  the 
materials  to  Ash,  where  I  would  do  my  best  to 
meet  his  wishes.  To  this  I  received  a  reply, 
repeating  the  Duke's  desire  that  I  should  go  to 
him,  and  pointing  out  that  more  could  be  done  in 
two  days  at  Strathfieldsaye  than  in  a  week  any- 
wdiere  else.  After  this  I  felt  that  nothing  remained 
for  me,  except  to  put  other  matters  aside  and  do  as 
the  Duke  wished. 

There  were  no  railroads  in  those  days  which  could 
be  of  use  to  me  ;  but  one  stage-coach  carried  me  to 


206      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

London,  and  another  put  me  down  in  the  afternoon 
of  the  following  day  at  Strathfieldsaye.  The  only 
guests  there,  when  I  arrived,  were,  besides  Lord 
Charles  Wellesley,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Arbuthnot,  though 
the  morrow  brought  Percy,  now  Lord  FitzGerald,  and 
others  whose  names  I  have  forgotten.  We  played 
whist  in  the  evening,  a  mode  of  passing  the  time 
usual  enough  in  Hampshire,  but  very  seldom  had 
recourse  to  at  Walmer.  Next  morning  after  break- 
fast the  Duke  followed  me  to  my  room,  and  after 
fully  explaining  both  the  end  he  had  in  view,  and 
the  sort  of  reasoning  which  appeared  to  him  best 
calculated  to  achieve  it,  he  laid  a  bundle  of  papers 
on  the  table,  and  left  me. 

The  pamphlet,  which  took  the  form  of  a  letter  to 
Lord  Harrowby  in  answer  to  one  by  him,  which 
had  appeared  in  the  newspapers,  was  completed, 
and  approved  of  by  the  Duke.  It  went,  I  believe, 
to  the  shop  of  Roake  and  Varty  in  the  Strand, 
the  great  publishers  at  that  time  of  everything  that 
was  written  in  opposition  to  the  Reform  Bill,  and 
did  just  as  much,  and  just  as  little,  as  its  con- 
geners to  embarrass  the  Government.  Indeed  I 
had  forgotten  all  about  it  and  the  little  incident 
which  connected  it  with  Mrs.  Arbuthnot,  till  I  read 
it,  reproduced  in  the  great  Duke's  published  corre- 
spondence. Then  came  back  to  me  very  vividly 
the  recollection  of  a  scene  to  w^hich  I  affixed  no 
significance  at  the  moment,  but  which  I  now 
believe  was  not  without  a  meaning.     To  the  com- 


MRS.    ARBUTHNOT  207 

pilation  of  the  pamphlet  I  used  generally  to  devote 
the  hours  between  breakfast  and  luncheon.  On 
the  day  ])ut  one  previous  to  the  breaking  up  of  the 
party,  I  declined  accompanying  the  rest  on  some 
excursion,  that  I  might  put  a  finishing  touch  to 
the  document.  Having  completed  the  job,  I 
strolled  out  into  the  pleasure-grounds,  where,  a 
little  to  my  surprise,  I  was  almost  immediately 
joined  by  Mrs.  Arbuthnot.  Our  acquaintance  had 
by  this  time  been  of  considerable  standing ;  and 
as  I  greatly  admired  her,  and  she  was  good  enough 
to  make  me  fancy  that  my  conversation  was  not 
disagreeable  to  her,  we  chatted  as  usual  for  a  while, 
discussing  the  prospects  of  contending  parties,  and 
then  stopping  and  turning  towards  me  she  said, 
somewhat  abruptly  : 

"  By  the  bye — why  did'nt  you  go  with  the  rest 
to-day?" 

"  Because  I  was  busy,  and  had  not  time," 
"  Hadn't  time,"  she  rejoined,  looking  me  full  in 
the  face.  "  Why,  what  were  you  doing  ?  I  have 
noticed  that  you  went  to  your  own  room,  every 
morning  after  breakfast,  and  we  saw  no  more  of 
you  till  luncheon.  Now  tell  me  honestly  what  you 
do  there?  We  wanted  you  yesterday  to  go  with 
us  to  Silchester.  Why  didn't  you  come  ? "  There 
was  an  arch  smile  on  the  lady's  face  when  she  said 
this,  which  made  me  smile  also.  It  was  quite 
true  that  the  Duke  did  come  to  my  room  the 
previous  day,  about  twelve   o'clock,   but  certainly 


208       REMINISCENCES   OF    DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

not  for  the  purpose  of  enticing  me  away  from  the 
work  on  which  I  was  engaged,  and  though  not  the 
shadow  of  a  suspicion  crossed  my  mind  that  she 
was  trying  to  pump  me,  I  thought  it  would  be  good 
fun  to  evade  the  question. 

"It  happens,"  was  my  answer,  "  that  I  was  terribly 
in  arrears  with  many  matters,  and  that  leaving 
home  just  at  this  time  was  rather  inconvenient,  so 
I  am  obliged  to  work  here,  when  I  would  much 
rather  go  about  with  you." 

Mrs.  A.  "  Oh,  that  won't  do  !  I  know  you  have 
something  particular  in  hand.  The  Duke  knows  it 
too ;  you  can't  deceive  me.     What  is  it  ?  " 

I,  laughing  outright.  "Well,  if  I  really  have 
something  particular  on  hand,  and  the  Duke  knows 
what  it  is,  why  don't  you  ask  him  ?  You  know, 
and  I  know,  he  keeps  no  secrets  from  you." 

Mrs.  A.,  laughing  also.  "  Oh,  I  see  you  are  deter- 
mined to  make  a  mystery,  and  won't  give  me  a 
clue.  /  will  show  you  some  of  my  letters  if  you 
like,  but  I  don't  think  they  would  interest  you." 

In  this  manner  the  conversation  went  on,  the 
lady  pressing  her  point,  I  evading  it,  more,  I  now 
believe,  because  the  whole  proceeding  amused  me, 
than  because  of  any  idea  that  to  the  Duke  it  would 
have  signified  a  farthing  whether  I  had  told  her 
the  truth  or  not.  I  believed  then,  and  still  beheve, 
that  mine  was  not  one  of  the  secrets  which  he 
cared  to  withhold  from  her,  still  I  was  well  pleased 
at  the  moment,  and  continued  to  be  well  pleased, 


MRS.    ARBUTHNOT  209 

that  I  kept  my  own  counsel ;  assuming  her  to  have 
asked  under  instruction,  the  issue  of  our  conference 
— if  fairly  reported — must  have  told  in  my  favour  ; 
if  unfairly  reported,  I  might  suffer  from  the 
report,  but  should  have  the  satisfaction  of  knowing 
that  I  suffered  unjustly. 

Other  stories  were  told  of  her,  tending  in  the 
same  direction,  and  some  of  them  much  more  dis- 
creditable either  to  her  or  to  those  who  gave  tliem 
circulation.  I  offer  no  opinion  as  to  their  credibility 
further  than  that  I  myself  was,  and  continue  to  be, 
slow  to  believe  them.  Be  this,  however,  as  it  may, 
her  worst  enemies  could  not  but  acknowledge  that 
her  devotion  to  the  Duke,  and  her  unbending 
fidelity  to  his  interests,  were  beyond  question.  So 
likewise  her  tact  and  wisdom  in  holding  intercourse 
with  him  did  as  much  credit  to  her  understanding 
as  to  her  heart.  She  never  bored  him  by  any 
ostentatious  show  of  admiration.  It  could  not  be 
said  of  her  as  it  was  said  of  others — that  she  ever 
threw  herself  in  his  way.  But  whatever  might  be 
her  engagements  or  occupations,  she  at  once  threw 
them  aside  as  often  as  he  notified  his  desire,  whether 
in  town  or  country,  to  converse  with  her.  Yet 
close  and  intimate  as  the  communication  between 
these  two  persons  was,  the  most  censorious  found 
it  impossible  to  point  to  a  situation  in  which  the 
most  distant  approach  to  wrong-doing  could  be 
predicated  of  either  of  them.  As  often  as  she 
was  the  Duke's  guest,  either  at  Walmer  or  Strath- 

0 


210      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

fieldsaye,  her  husband  was  his  guest  also.  The 
doors  of  her  house  in  Carlton  Terrace  were  indeed 
always  open  to  the  Duke,  and  arm-in-arm  they 
would  walk  like  brother  and  sister  through  the 
streets ;  but  if,  when  he  was  with  her,  other  visitors 
called,  they  were  in  no  case  refused  admittance, 
and  Regent  Street  is  scarcely  the  locality  which 
persons  meditating  any  outrage  on  decorum  would 
select  as  the  place  of  recreation. 

There  are  those  who  discredit  the  possible  exist- 
ence of  a  pure  and  lasting  friendship  between 
persons  of  opposite  sexes.  I  do  not  belong  to  their 
number.  I  believe,  on  the  contrary,  that  such 
friendships  are  more  frequent  than  the  world  sup- 
poses, and  that  wherever  they  are  formed  and  con- 
firmed by  time,  they  elevate  the  natures  of  both 
parties.  Of  the  depth  and  endurance  of  Mrs. 
Arbuthnot's  friendship  for  the  Duke,  and  his  to 
her,  there  can  be  no  doubt.  To  the  last  moment 
of  her  conscious  existence  this  hero-worship  re- 
tained its  influence  over  her.  She  was  taken  ill 
at  Arbuthnot's  country-house,  I  think,  with  gastric 
fever,  and  feeling  that  her  case  was  hopeless,  she 
sent  for  the  Duke.  He  hurried  down  and  arrived 
just  in  time  to  receive,  so  to  speak,  her  last  breath. 
She  died  with  one  hand  clasped  in  his,  and  the 
other  in  the  hand  of  her  husband. 


john  wilson  croker  211 

The  Right  Honourable  John  Wilson  Croker. 

Of  this  gentleman  it  is  not  necessary  that  in 
these  sketches  I  should  say  much.  Mr.  Jennings 
has  told  his  story  admirably  and  at  length,  and 
in  the  review  of  his  book,  contributed  to  Black- 
ivood's  Magazine,  in  the  numbers  for  November  and 
December  1884,  I  have  taken  a  tolerably  accurate 
measurement  of  the  place  which  belongs  to  Croker 
among  the  worthies  of  his  own  generation.  It  is 
a  distinguished  one,  undoubtedly,  and  might  have 
been  still  more  so  but  for  certain  obvious  defects  in 
Croker's  composition.  His  abilities  were  of  a  very 
high  order,  his  reading  was  extensive,  and  his 
industry  untiring.  Had  he  persistently  followed 
any  one  out  of  three  courses  in  life  that  were  open 
to  him,  nothing  could  have  prevented  his  attaining 
to  a  foremost  place  in  it.  He  had  but  to  choose 
between  law,  literature,  and  politics,  and  perfect 
success  in  one  or  the  other  would  have  been  the 
consequence.  But  he  preferred  dabbling  in  all 
three,  and  the  result  was  something  far  short  of  the 
eminence  at  which,  in  any  one  of  them,  he  had  a 
right  to  aspire.  Unfortunately,  also,  he  made  his 
first  start  as  an  author  in  a  line  which  could  not 
fail  to  make  enemies ;  and  never,  to  the  close  of 
his  career,  could  he  succeed  in  removing  from  the 
public  mind  the  evil  impression  thus  early  created. 
There  was,  moreover,  a  good  deal  in  Croker's  off- 
hand manner  which  offended  as  much  as  it  enter- 


21 -2       REMINISCENCES    OF  DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

tained  society.  Meet  him  when  you  might,  and  in 
company  with  whomsoever  you  would,  he  insisted 
on  your  regarding  him  as  the  most  important  person 
present.  His  talk  was  incessant  on  all  manner 
of  subjects — generally  more  or  less  instructive,  no 
doubt,  and  sometimes  amusing;  but  the  worst  of 
it  was,  he  appeared  incapable  of  understanding  that 
there  are  times  and  places  for  all  things.  For 
example,  though  no  sportsman  in  the  well-under- 
stood sense  of  that  term,  Croker  used  to  accept 
invitations  to  shooting-parties  at  Strathfieldsaye 
and  elsewhere.  Not  even  when  the  line  was  formed 
(and  the  Duke  formed  his  shooting-line  exactly  as 
he  would  have  done  his  line  of  battle)  and  the 
march  through  woods  and  copses  began,  not  even 
then  could  Croker  hold  his  tongue  ;  but,  regardless 
of  the  effect  on  both  game  and  shooters,  persisted 
in  pouring  out,  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  whatever 
story  or  notion  occurred  to  him.  Provoked  as  they 
often  were,  his  comrades  to  the  right  and  left  could 
not  help  being  diverted  by  all  this.  But  when 
over  the  dinner-table  or  in  the  drawing-room  he 
insisted  on  laying  down  the  law,  not  even  the 
soundness  of  his  views,  and  the  clearness  with 
which  they  were  expressed,  sufficed  on  all  occasions 
to  prevent  his  being  regarded  as  a  bore.  I  myself 
once  heard  him  lecture  the  Duke  of  Wellington 
on  the  manoeuvres  which  preceded  the  battle  of 
Talavera.  I  never  forgot  the  moral  with  which 
the  discussion  ended.  "  Well,  Duke,  you  may  say 
what  you  please,  but  if  history  should  fail  to  do 


JOHN  WILSON    CROKER  213 

you  justice,  you  will  live  for  ever  in  my  poem  as 
the  hero  of  that  day  1 " 

Born  in  Galway,  the  son  of  a  gentleman  high  in 
the  Inland  Revenue  Department,  Croker  graduated 
in  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  whence,  in  1800,  he 
passed  over  to  London  that  he  might  study  law  in 
Lincoln's  Inn.  Soon  after  this  he  began  to  send 
contributions  to  the  Times,  and  by-and-by,  in  co- 
operation with  the  authors  of  the  Rejected  Addresses, 
set  up  a  weekly  newspaper  of  his  own.  It  soon 
died  a  natural  death,  whereupon,  author  in  his 
own  proper  person,  he  published  two  excellent 
books,  or  rather  pamphlets,  which  offended  many, 
more  than  they  amused,  by  satirising  both  the  Irish 
stage  and  the  tone  of  general  society  in  Dublin. 
We  find  him  next  a  practising  barrister  on  the 
Connaught  Circuit,  and  in  due  time  returned  to 
Parliament  as  a  Member  for  the  Borough  of  Down- 
patrick.  His  success  in  the  House  of  Commons  was 
as  striking  as  it  was  immediate.  He  spoke  on  the 
first  night,  after  taking  his  seat,  and  to  such  excel- 
lent purpose,  as  to  attract  the  attention  of  Canning 
and  to  secure  the  good  opinion  of  the  future  Duke 
of  Wellington.  But  that  which  opened  for  him  the 
door  of  advancement  was  his  successful  defence  of 
the  Duke  of  York  against  the  attack  made  upon 
His  Boyal  Highness's  character  by  Colonel  Wardle 
and  Mrs.  Clarke. 

It  was  perhaps  unfortunate  on  the  whole  for 
Croker  that  he  should  have  attained  very  early 
in  his  career  to  a  well-paid  otiice  under  Government. 


214      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

Had  it  been  convenient  for  him  to  retain  his  inde- 
pendence for  a  few  more  years,  devoting  his  time 
and  attention  exclusively  to  politics,  it  is  scarcely 
going  too  far  to  say  that  he  might  and  probably 
would  have  been  called  upon  to  form  an  administra- 
tion of  his  own ;  for  he  entered  Parliament  when 
very  young.  His  views,  so  far  as  ■  they  may  have 
been  at  that  time  settled,  were  in  advance  of  those 
of  the  party  with  which  on  principle  he  acted  ;  and 
both  his  skill  in  debate  and  his  aptitude  for  busi- 
ness were  recognised  from  the  outset  by  all  who 
came  in  contact  with  him.  A  man  thus  favoured 
by  circumstances  needed  only  the  presence  of  a 
lofty  ambition  to  bring  within  his  reach  the  highest 
honours  of  the  State.  But  we  are  none  of  us 
masters  of  our  own  destiny.  Croker  was  not,  like 
Peel,  a  rich  man  ;  nor  like  Canning,  the  protege 
of  a  powerful  Prime  Minister.  The  offer  of  the 
Secretaryship  of  the  Admiralty  was  too  tempting 
to  be  declined,  and  the  place  itself  too  comfortable 
to  be  rashly  thrown  away.  Hence  Croker  subsided 
under  its  influence  into  the  desultory  essayist,  and 
the  chosen  friend  and  adviser  of  statesmen,  none  of 
them  either  more  able  or  more  honest  than  himself. 
Mr.  Jennings  has  made  it  clear  that  many  sins 
of  authorship  were  laid  at  Croker's  door  of  which 
he  was  not  guilty.  It  is  not  the  fact  that  he 
assailed  either  Miss  Martineau  or  Mr.  Disraeli  in 
the  Quarterly  Review.  For  the  attacks  made  by 
them  upon  him,  not  even  the  poor  excuse  of  out- 


JOHN    WILSON   CROKER  215 

raged  vanity  can  be  pleaded.  We  cannot  say  so 
much  of  his  manner  of  handling  the  writings  of 
Maurice  and  Kingsley,  and — what  is  infinitely  less 
excusable — the  men  themselves,  throutrh  their  works. 
Maurice  was  neither  a  heretic  nor  a  demagogue, 
nor  was  Kingsley  a  communist.  They  were  simply 
Christian  enthusiasts,  whose  aims  were  as  praise- 
worthy as  in  the  present  state  of  society  they  were 
unattainable  ;  and  certainly  were  far  from  deserving 
the  ferocious  onslaught  that  was  made  upon  them 
in  the  pages  of  the  Quarterly.  Poor  Lady  Morgan 
might  be  fairer  game,  yet  not  by  Croker  was  she  run 
down,  though  she  and  her  friends  held  him  respon- 
sible for  the  biting  critiques  which  did  their  best  to 
make  her  ridiculous.  Croker  took  very  little  heed 
of  the  outcry  to  which  his  assumed  delinquencies 
gave  rise.  It  may  even  be  a  question  whether,  on 
the  whole,  he  was  not  pleased  with  it,  for  his  was 
not  a  very  sensitive  nature  ;  and  to  be  an  object  of 
violent  hatred  was  to  him  proof  that  he  was  feared, 
and  to  be  feared  was  perhaps  more  acceptable  to 
his  self-consciousness  than  to  be  loved.  Let  me 
not,  however,  be  misunderstood.  Croker  was  as 
capable  of  strong  attachments  as  of  strong  anti- 
pathies. His  friendship  for  Canning  was  as  sincere 
as  it  was  lasting,  and  his  feelings  for  the  Duke  of 
Wellington  amounted  to  something  like  reverence. 
With  Sir  Walter  Scott,  with  Southey,  with  Lock- 
hart,  with  Sir  Henry  Hardinge,  he  maintained  very 
kindly  relations,  though  more  perhaps  like  one  who 


216      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

confers  a  favour  than  is  gratified  by  the  intimacy. 
How  the  intimacy  between  him  and  Peel  first  began 
I  do  not  know,  but  the  characters  of  the  two  men 
were  in  many  respects  so  different,  that  an  intimacy 
which  seemed  for  many  years  to  be  based  on  unity 
of  sentiment  proved  after  all  to  have  had  no  surer 
foundation  than  mutual  convenience.  Croker,  as 
he  has  himself  confessed,  regarded  allegiance  to 
party  as  the  first  duty  of  a  statesman.  Peel  har- 
boured no  sentiment  of  this  kind,  because  his  early 
associations  galled  him,  so  that  he  looked  upon 
allegiance  to  the  claims  of  party  to  be  incompatible 
with  due  regard  to  the  public  wellbeing.  Be  this, 
however,  as  it  may.  Peel  and  Croker  came  gradually 
to  discover  that,  while  avowedly  working  together, 
their  aims  were  different.  That  breach  between 
them  occurred  which,  in  my  poor  opinion,  tells  as 
much  against  Peel's  moral  nature  as  the  causes 
which  led  up  to  it  take  away  from  his  reputation 
as  a  wise  statesman. 

If  Peel,  by  w^hatever  motive  guided,  at  once 
betrayed  his  own  followers  and  played  into  the 
hands  of  their  rivals,  Croker  cannot  be  altogether 
credited  with  unwavering  fidelity  to  party.  There 
is  this,  no  doubt,  to  be  said  in  defence  of  the  course 
he  took  on  a  memorable  occasion,  that  he  believed 
it  at  the  outset  to  be  the  best  that  could  be  fol- 
lowed, looked  at  from  a  party  point  of  view,  and 
that  when  partially  disabused  on  that  head,  he  had 
gone  too  far  in  one  direction  to  retrace  his  steps. 


JOHN    WILSON    CROKER  217 

I  allude  to  the  part  he  played  on  the  occasion  of 
Lord  Liverpool's  illness,  and  after  Canning's  suc- 
cessful intrigue  to  become  Lord  Liverpool's  suc- 
cessor. No  blame  surely  could  attach  to  him  for 
believing  that  among  the  existing  Cabinet  Canning 
was  the  best  qualified  to  become  its  chief.  And  so 
believing,  it  was  but  natural  he  should  endeavour  to 
win  over  both  the  Duke  and  Peel  to  his  own  views. 
But  it  seems  impossible  to  justify  his  manner  of 
proceeding  after  it  became  clear  to  him  that  the 
administration,  of  which  Canning  was  at  the  head, 
could  not  carry  on  the  government,  except  with 
the  support  of  the  Whigs,  to  whom  Croker  had  all 
his  life  been  opposed.  Canning,  as  is  well  known, 
would  have  been  well  pleased  to  keep  his  old  col- 
leagues about  him,  at  all  events  at  the  outset  of 
his  career.  That  he  would  have  gradually  weeded 
some  of  them  out — assuming  the  King  to  have  lived 
and  supported  him — no  one  who  knew  him  intimately 
could  doubt.  And  possibly  had  these  contingencies 
befallen,  a  better  order  of  things  might  have  been 
brought  about  than  actually  came  to  pass.  But  all 
with  whom,  up  to  that  moment,  Croker  had  been 
accustomed  to  act,  refused  to  serve  under  Canning, 
and  nothing  remained  for  the  new  member  except 
either  to  resign  or  to  seek  support  from  the  Opposi- 
tion. Even  thus  supported,  however,  his  tenure  of 
office  could  not  but  have  been  precarious.  Such  a 
coalition  as  he  had  it  in  his  power  to  form,  must 
lean  for  support  more  on  the  favour  of  the  Crown 


218       REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

than  on  the  support  of  Parliament,  because  in  the 
Lords  it  was  in  a  decided  minority,  and  on  a  pro- 
minent majority  in  the  Commons,  influenced  as  the 
constituencies  then  were,  he  could  not  reckon. 
Croker,  in  urging  Canning  to  pay  court  to  the 
factions  in  small  boroughs,  went  far  enough  to 
consider  the  party  coalition,  as  he  himself  under- 
stood the  case.  He  passed  a  long  way  outside  of 
it  when  he  brought  the  Duke  of  Clarence  to  the 
Admiralty,  and  congratulated  Canning  on  thus 
securing  the  support  of  two  sovereigns.  His  well- 
known  boast — "  Play  your  cards  well,  and  you  are 
minister  for  two  reigns  " — fell  upon  the  ear  of  one 
whose  days  were  numbered.  Canning  survived  this 
utterance  scarcely  six  months,  and  Croker  found 
himself  for  a  brief  space  isolated,  because  mistrusted 
by  new  friends  as  well  as  old. 

Most  men,  after  such  a  fiasco,  would  have  with- 
drawn as  much  as  possible  from  active  interference 
with  State  affairs.  There  was  no  reason  why  he 
should  resign  his  place  at  the  Admiralty,  because 
the  fact  of  having  served  out  of  the  Cabinet  under 
both  Canning  and  Robinson  could  not  place  him 
in  antagonism  towards  whatever  Tory  Government 
might  be  formed.  It  might  diminish  the  confidence 
heretofore  placed  in  him  by  the  Duke  and  Peel — 
and  for  a  little  while  it  had  this  effect,  so  far  at 
least  as  Peel  was  concerned.  But  it  imposed  no 
necessity  on  either,  in  the  event  of  power  passing 
into  his  hands,  to  send  Croker  about  his  business  ; 


JOHN    WILSON    CROKER  219 

and  Croker,  fully  understanding  this,  proved  true  to 
himself.  Instead  of  holding  back  while  the  Robin- 
son Cabinet  was  in  difficulties,  he  advised  Disraeli 
to  bring  the  Duke  into  his  Cabinet,  and  failing  that, 
he  urged  that  a  command  of  the  army  should  be 
pressed  upon  him.  He  took  care  that  the  Duke  should 
know  what  he  had  done,  and  hence,  when  the  crisis 
came,  he  was  at  once  taken  back  by  his  first  patron 
into  favour.  And  never  again,  through  good  report 
or  evil,  can  it  be  said  of  him  that  he  wavered  in  his 
allegiance.  When  the  battle  of  the  first  Reform  Bill 
came  on,  he  was  at  once  the  ablest  and  the  most  un- 
compromising supporter  of  the  Duke's  policy.  If  he 
declined,  at  a  subsequent  period,  to  help  the  Duke 
and  Lord  Lyndhurst  to  form  an  administration, 
small  blame  attaches  to  him.  He  had  then  no  seat 
in  Parliament,  and  though  one  might  perhaps  have 
been  found  for  him,  he  knew,  and  so  did  the  Duke 
and  Lord  Lyndhurst,  that  his  presence  in  the 
Cabinet  would  add  nothing  to  its  strength.  Peel, 
the  Duke  never  entirely  forgave  for  deserting  him 
on  that  occasion,  any  more  than  Peel  ever  forgave 
the  Duke  for  using  him  as  an  instrument  in  passing 
the  Catholic  Emancipation  Act.  But  both  the  Duke 
and  Peel  knew  perfectly  well  that,  however  useful 
he  might  be  as  an  outside  adviser,  Croker,  because 
of  his  excessive  self-appreciation,  would  have  made 
by  no  means  an  agreeable  member  of  a  Cabinet. 

Croker,  like  the  Duke,  took  a  very  gloomy  view 
of  the  effects  of  the  Reform  Act.     Both  regarded 


220      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

it  as  the  first  step  towards  a  great  social  as  well  as 
political  revolution,  and  both  expected  that  the 
monarchy  would  not  last  their  day.  So  com- 
pletely, indeed,  had  this  conviction  forced  itself 
on  Croker's  mind,  that  I  once  heard  him  say  to  the 
Duke  :  "  If  you  and  I  were  twenty  years  younger, 
the  best  thing  we  could  do  would  be  to  emigrate. 
As  it  is,  I  advise  you  to  follow  my  example  by 
withdrawing  as  much  of  your  personal  property  as 
possible  from  the  English  funds  and  investing  it  in 
American  or  Russian  securities."  Whether  Croker 
really  took  this  step,  or  was  only  speaking  at  ran- 
dom, as  he  sometimes  did,  I  do  not  know.  The 
latter  was,  I  suspect,  the  real  ground  of  the  sugges- 
tion, to  which  the  Duke  was  too  much  of  a  patriot 
to  pay  any  regard. 

They  who  desire  to  know  what  Croker  was  as  a 
politician  and  essayist  will  do  well  to  read  Mr. 
Jenning's  volumes.  There  Croker  paints  his  own 
portrait  in  letters  and  extracts  from  diaries  which 
cannot  be  misunderstood.  I  have  to  deal  with  him 
here  only  as  a  member  of  society  whom  it  was  my 
good  fortune  occasionally  to  meet,  and  of  whom 
many  stories  were  told.  His  appearance  was 
decidedly  in  his  favour.  His  features  were  good, 
and  his  general  expression  that  of  a  man  of  high 
intellect  slightly,  one  remarked,  or  more  than 
slightly,  marred  by  a  tinge  of  self-assurance.  To 
use  a  vulgar  phrase,  he  was  as  cool  a  hand,  however 
socially  placed,  as  it  is  possible  to  conceive.     No 


JOHN    WILSON    CROKER  221 

presence  whatever  abashed  him,  nor  did  he  scruple 
to  interrupt  and  talk  down  any  one  who  threatened 
to  come  between  him  and  the  lead  in  conversa- 
tion. 

His  clever  defence  of  the  Duke  of  York  in  the 
famous  Wardle  case  gained  him  the  friendship  of 
the  royal  family,  and  he  appeared  quite  as  much  at 
ease  when  a  guest  at  any  of  their  tables,  as  at  that 
of  any  nobleman  or  commoner  within  the  circle  of 
his  acquaintance.  For  example,  it  happened  on 
one  occasion  that  during  a  dinner  at  Carlton  House 
Croker  sat  next  to  the  Duke  of  Clarence.  They 
were  conversing  together,  when  the  King,  who 
could  not  overhear  what  was  said,  called  out 
suddenly,  "  Croker,  what  are  you  two  talking 
about  ? " 

"  Nothing  very  particular,  sir,"  was  Croker's 
reply.  "  His  Royal  Highness  is  only  telling  me 
what  he  means  to  do  when  he  becomes  King." 
George  iv.  winced  a  little  for  a  moment,  being 
very  sensitive  on  that  head,  but  he  soon  recovered 
himself,  and  laughed  aloud,  the  whole  party,  as  in 
duty  bound,  laughing  in  chorus. 

Much  was  made,  in  disparagement  of  him,  by 
Croker's  enemies,  of  his  intimacy  with  the  Marquis 
of  Hertford.  The  Lord  Hertford  of  Croker's  day 
was  beyond  all  doubt  a  very  disreputable  person, 
whose  acquaintance,  were  society  such  as  we  could 
wish  it  to  be,  respectable  men  and  women  would 
have  shunned.     But  society  is  not  as  yet,  and  is 


222      REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

not,    I   fear,  likely   to   become    such   as   could   be 
wished    at  any  period  short    of   the   millennium. 
As  long  as  rank  and  wealth  continue  to  be  objects 
of  ambition,  their  possessors  will  command  atten- 
tion— be  their  moral  conduct  what  it  may — pro- 
vided   always    that    they   keep    clear    of    certain 
offences  against  which   society,   by  the  establish- 
ment of  arbitrary  laws,  has  guarded  itself      And 
if  to  high  rank  and  great  wealth  be  added  abilities 
above  the  common  level,   with  much  influence  in 
politics,  the  magnate  so  favoured  becomes,   I  am 
afraid,    a   fit    companion    for    bishops.     Croker,   a 
young  member  of  Parliament,  attracted  the  atten- 
tion, among  others,  of   Lord  Yarmouth,  and   saw 
no  reason  why  he  should  reject  the  friendship  of  a 
man,  apparently  well  thought  of  by  the  leaders  of 
his  own  party,  and  who,  on  the  death  of  his  father, 
must  become  Marquis  of  Hertford,  and  owner  of 
not  fewer  than  seven  seats  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons.     That  he  ever  countenanced  the  orgies  of 
his   patron   is  a   gross    calumny  invented  by   his 
enemies.     He  could  not,  indeed,  be  ignorant  that 
such    things  were.     Nobody  in   London   or   Paris 
was  ignorant,  but  the  hospitalities  of  Sedbomme 
he  shared  with  such  guests  as  the  Duke  of  Grafton, 
the  Duke   of  Gloucester,  and  the   Duke   of  Wel- 
lington,   of   whom    not    even    the    most    rabid   of 
partisans    could   venture    to    insinuate    that    any 
approach  to  indecent  associations  would  by  them 
be  tolerated.     Again,  it  is  quite  true  that  Croker 


JOHN    WILSON   CROKER  223 

watched  over  the  management  of  Lord  Hert- 
ford's affairs,  and  in  doing  so  rendered  him  very 
important  services.  But  it  is  not  true  that  he  was 
paid  for  so  doing.  On  the  contrary,  he  refused  a 
handsome  salary  which  Lord  Hertford  pressed  upon 
him ;  and  if  at  Lord  Hertford's  death  he  succeeded 
to  a  legacy,  it  was  scarcely  more  in  amount  than 
a  wealthy  nobleman,  without  legitimate  sons  or 
daughters  to  provide  for,  might  be  expected  to 
bequeath  to  a  confidential  friend. 

The  Duke,  much  as  he  liked  Croker,  had  no 
objection  to  see  him  shut  up,  as  occasionally  hap- 
pened, when  laying  down  the  law.  It  fell  to  my 
lot  on  one  occasion  to  correct  him,  after  he  had 
been  demonstrating  to  a  large  party  at  the  Duke's 
table  that,  but  for  the  Revolution  of  1G88,  it  was 
quite  possible  that  a  descendant  of  Napoleon  i. 
might  have  become  heir  to  the  English  throne. 
This  he  showed  by  pointing  out  how  the  Houses 
of  Sardinia  and  Austria  became  connected,  and 
how  Napoleon,  having  married  an  Austrian  prin- 
cess, might  have  been  the  ancestor  of  some  future 
English  sovereign.  He  quite  overlooked  the  fact 
that  the  line  of  succession  must  have  been  through 
the  wife  of  Louis  xiv.,  if  by  any  chance  a  French 
prince  were  to  become  a  candidate  for  the  British 
throne,  and  was  by  no  means  pleased  when, 
having  had  recent  occasion  to  write  up  the  ques- 
tion, I  was  able  to  set  him  right.  He  did  as  was 
his  custom  when  thus  beset — he  argued  and  blus- 


224       REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

tered,  and  at  last  became  silent.  The  Duke  was 
greatly  amused,  and  repeated  the  little  incident 
with  infinite  humour  to  more  than  one  set  of 
visitors  afterwards.  Croker  never  stood  so  high 
in  the  estimation  of  his  party  as  during  the  debates 
that  immediately  preceded  the  passing  of  Lord 
Grey's  Reform  Act.  No  speaker  in  the  House 
came  near  him  for  promptitude  in  reply,  and  the 
skill  with  which  the  arguments  of  the  members 
and  their  supporters  were  pulled  to  pieces.  He 
was  especially  happy  in  exposing  Macaulay's  fre- 
quent misquotations  of  history,  and  earned  in 
consequence  the  lasting  hatred  of  that  able,  though 
far  from  generous,  rival.  When  Lord  Grey  re- 
signed, after  his  defeat  in  the  House  of  Lords,  in 
Committee,  Croker  was  invited  to  join  the  Duke  in 
forming  an  administration.  This  he  declined,  pos- 
sibly, perhaps,  because  he  saw  that  the  game  was 
up.  Be  this,  however,  as  it  may,  I  venture  to 
doubt  whether  either  then,  or  at  any  future  period, 
Croker's  presence  in  the  Cabinet  would  have  been 
acceptable  to  the  bulk  of  those  with  whom  he 
would  have  been  called  to  act.  An  admirable  par- 
tisan all  admitted  him  to  be.  But,  except  to  the 
Duke  of  Wellington,  he  was  never  known  to  have 
yielded  a  single  point  on  any  controverted  subject ; 
and  a  man  who  cannot  take  as  well  as  give  on  all 
subjects  which  admit  of  controversy,  would  prove, 
however  able,  a  source  of  weakness,  rather  than  of 
strength,  to  a  Cabinet.     Whether  Croker  himself 


JOHN    WILSON    CROKER  225 

felt  this,  as  much  as  others  felt  it,  I  do  not  know  ; 
but  he  steadily  resisted  all  the  efforts  that  were 
made  to  bring  him  back  into  Parliament  after  the 
Reform  Act  became  law,  and  thereby  made  it  im- 
possible for  outsiders  to  suspect  that  when  the  tide 
of  public  opinion  turned  in  favour  of  the  Con- 
servatives his  admitted  claim  to  high  office  had 
been  set  aside. 

The  Peel  administration  which  was  formed  in 
1841  Croker  supported  with  his  pen  as  long  as  it 
was  possible  for  him  to  do  so.  He  had,  doubtless, 
begun  to  distrust  somewhat  the  head  of  that  ad- 
ministration before  he  took  office  ;  but  against  this 
misgiving  he  manfully  struggled,  even  after  the 
feeling  was  shared  with  him  by  a  considerable 
section  of  the  party.  Hence  the  sternness  with 
which,  acting  in  concert  with  Peel,  he  denounced 
Disraeli's  exposure  of  "  the  organised  hypocrisy  "  ; 
for  down  to  the  very  eve  of  the  surrender  no 
political  article  appeared  in  the  Quai^terly  Review 
till  it  had  been  read,  or  in  substance  approved,  by 
the  Prime  Minister. 

At  last,  however,  came  that  rupture  which,  while 
it  must  have  for  ever  kept  them  apart  as  politicians, 
gave  no  warrant  for  the  tone  of  Peel's  letter,  which 
put  an  end  to  all  personal  intercourse  between  men 
who  had  been  friends  for  forty  years. 

That  Croker  suffered  much  from  the  quarrel 
admits  of  no  doubt.  Peel,  cold,  and  wrapped  up 
in  self,  cared  no  more  about  it  than  he  did  about 


226      REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

treating  the  great  Duke  with  something  like  dis- 
respect, while  pretending  to  work  with  him. 

If  his  adherence  to  principles  of  which  Peel  long 
professed  himself  to  be  the  champion  cost  Croker 
the  loss  of  one  friend,  it  had  no  power  to  alienate 
from  him  another.  The  Duke,  for  reasons  he  has 
himself  left  on  record,  supported  Peel  in  a  policy  of 
which  he  disapproved,  but  did  not  therefore  with- 
draw his  confidence  from  Croker,  who  wrote  against 
it.  Apsley  House,  Stratfieldsaye,  and  Walmer 
Castle  were  still  as  open  to  Croker  as  they  had 
ever  been,  and  the  correspondence  of  the  two 
men,  if  more  restricted — for  the  Duke  was  begin- 
ning to  find  w^riting  laborious — lacked  nothing 
of  its  old  cordiality  and  openness.  The  one  did 
not  long  survive  the  other.  Croker,  though  the 
younger  of  the  two  by  eleven  years,  died  first, 
after  a  protracted  illness,  though  not  till  after 
they  had  taken  leave  of  one  another,  in  an  inter- 
view of  which  in  the  Croker  papers  a  touching 
account  is  given.  The  memorandum  of  what 
passed  between  them  Croker  circulated  long  ago 
among  his  friends.  Mr.  Jennings  has  done  good 
service  to  the  memories  of  both  by  reprinting  it  in 
his  valuable  memoirs. 

Croker  was  charged  by  some  of  his  envious  con- 
temporaries— and  he  had  many — with  doing  nothing, 
though  himself  a  prolific  and  successful  writer,  for 
literature  and  men  of  letters.  He  gave  his  cousin 
a  clerkship  in  the  admiralty,  and  doubtless  would 


JOHN   WILSON   CROKER  227 

have  done  more  for  him  had  he  not  been  the  author 
of  The  Fairy  Legends  of  Ireland.    But  Dr.  Giffard, 
long  the  editor  of  the  Standard,  with  whom  he 
had  close  relations,  he  allowed  to  die   in   a  state 
of   bankruptcy,    and    Maginn,    whom   likewise    he 
encouraged    in     his    Tory    diatribes,    he    entirely 
neglected.     Maginn  was  one  of  those  brilliant  men 
of  genius  whom   it  was   impossible   effectively  to 
serve.     It  rested  entirely  with  himself  to  be  either 
independent  or  in  constant  difficulties.      He  could 
earn  with  perfect  ease  an  income  more  than  sufficient 
for  all  his  wants  ;  and  from  time  to  time  he  did  earn 
it.     But  such  was  his  reckless  extravagance  that  he 
went  about  in  constant   fear   of  arrest,   and   was 
repeatedly  bailed  by  his  friends  out  of  a  sponging- 
house.     Had  Croker  found  for  him  employment  in 
the  public  service,  he  would  have  neglected  it  just 
as  he  did  the  sub-editorship  of  the  Standard,  which 
Giffard  procured  for  him.      But  though  debarred, 
and  justly  debarred,  from  putting  such  a  man  in  a 
place  of  trust,  Croker  did  give  him  money,  and  got 
more  for  him  in  his   last   illness  from   Sir  Kobert 
Peel.     As  to  Dr.    Giffard,   I  question  whether  he 
would  have  accepted  any  favour  at  Croker's  hands. 
A  proud  man,  and  firmly  believing  that  as  editor  of 
a  newspaper  he  was    a  power  in   the  State,   Dr. 
Giffard  certainly  never  solicited  or  expected  that 
any  minister  of  the  Crown,  and  especially  Croker, 
would   provide  for  him.     But  if  these  and  a   few 
similar  cases  were  pointed  to,  some  years  ago,  as 


228      REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

proofs  of  Croker's  heartlessness,  we  have  ample 
proof  now  of  his  readiness  to  serve  both  literature 
in  the  abstract  and  men  of  letters,  being  at  the  same 
time  men  of  character.  How  he  effected  these  ends 
Mr.  Jennings  has  told  us. 

On  the  whole,  Croker  was  a  very  remarkable 
man.  His  faults  were  those  of  temperament  and 
manner.  His  good  qualities  were  not  over-balanced 
bj  them.  His  abilities  were  of  a  high  order,  and 
as  I  have  elsewhere  said,  if  he  failed  to  achieve  the 
highest  honours  in  any  one  walk  of  life,  it  was 
because  he  frittered  away  his  powers  in  too  many. 

Lord  Clanwilliam 

It  was  to  Walmer  Castle  in  the  year  1831, 1  think, 
that  Lord  Clanwilliam  brought  his  newly-wedded 
wife — a  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Pembroke  and 
sister  to  Sidney  Herbert.  Lord  Clanwilliam  was 
then  a  handsome  man,  with  as  much  of  the  Thun 
blood  in  his  veins  as  that  of  the  Meades.  His 
mother,  a  member  of  that  powerful  Bohemian 
family,  gave  him  his  dark  complexion,  dark 
brown  eye,  and  regular  features.  He  was  above 
the  middle  height,  well  made,  and  active.  His 
wife,  without  being  critically  beautiful,  was  one  of 
the  most  attractive  women  I  ever  saw.  She,  too,  like 
her  lord,  was  of  mixed  origin,  her  mother  being  a 
daughter  of  Prince  Woronsow,  for  many  years 
Bussian  Ambassador  at  the  Court  of  St.    James, 


LORD   CLAN  WILLIAM  229 

a  charming  person,  who  long  survived  her  husband, 
and  died,  just  as  the  Crimean  War  came  to  an 
end,  in  her  own  house  in  Grafton  Street. 

What  Lord  ClanwilUam  might  have  achieved  had 
he  done  justice  to  the  talents  with  which  he  was 
gifted  it  is  hard  to  say.  He  began  life  as  a  diplo- 
matist, was  attached  to  the  Duke's  Embassy  at 
Vienna  when  Napoleon  returned  from  Elba,  and 
at  the  close  of  the  Waterloo  campaign  was  trans- 
ferred to  Paris.  France  was  at  that  time  in  a 
very  disturbed  condition.  The  wreck  of  Napoleon's 
army  had  disbanded  itself,  and  overspread  the  whole 
face  of  the  country  with  bands  of  brigands.  The 
young  diplomatist  fell  into  the  midst  of  one  of  these 
gangs,  and  used  to  give  a  ludicrous  description  of 
the  treatment  he  received  from  them.  Not  content 
to  deprive  him  of  his  money  and  watch,  they 
stripped  him  to  the  skin,  and  left  only  a  worn- 
out  military  cloak  to  cover  his  nakedness.  In  this 
plight  he  made  good  what  remained  of  his  journey 
to  Paris,  and  proceeded  at  once  to  the  British 
Embassy,  when  the  servants  refused  to  believe  his 
story,  and  ordered  him  out  of  the  house.  And 
out  of  the  house  he  would  have  been  turned,  but 
that  Lord  Stratford  de  RedclifFe  happened  to  pass 
through  the  hall  when  the  discussion  was  going 
on,  and  recognised  the  voice  of  the  intruder.  This, 
of  course,  saved  him. 

Why  he  gave  up  his  profession  after  serving  at 
more  than  one  foreign  court  is  accounted  for  in  two 


230      REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

ways.  One  maliciously  charges  him  with  an  act  of 
indecorum  at  Berlin,  which,  if  it  ever  occurred  at 
all,  must  have  been  the  result  of  a  moment's  want 
of  thought.  He  had  walked,  it  was  said,  from  his 
lodgings  on  a  summer  evening  to  the  house  of  a 
magnate  in  which  a  gathering  of  fashionables  was 
held,  and  observing  that  his  shoes  were  covered 
with  dust,  looked  about  for  some  means  of  cleansing 
them.  Every  hall  table  was  crowned  with  a 
pyramid  of  plumed  hats,  every  gentleman  in  Prussia 
in  those  days  being  a  soldier,  and  no  soldier  ever 
appearing  abroad  except  in  uniform.  Clanwilliam 
seized  one  of  these  hats,  and  without  giving  a 
moment's  consideration  to  the  light  in  which  the 
proceeding  might  be  regarded,  flipped  the  dust  off 
his  shoes  with  the  plume.  The  moral  drawn  from 
the  fable,  if  fable  it  be,  is  that  the  whole  Prussian 
army  became  furious,  and  that  getting  a  hint  that 
his  further  stay  in  Berlin  could  be  dispensed  with, 
he  quitted  at  once  the  Prussian  capital  and  the 
profession.  Lord  Clanwilliam  himself  gave  another, 
and,  I  suspect,  a  more  accurate  account  of  the 
motives  which  induced  him  to  retire  into  private 
life.  "  There  are  two  classes  of  people  in  the  world," 
he  said  to  me,  "  workers  and  drones.  I  belong,  and 
always  did,  to  the  latter.  As  soon  as  my  father 
died,  and  I  became  independent,  I  got  out  of 
harness,  and  have  never  since  been  tempted  to 
encumber  myself  with  it  again."  The  fjict,  for  it 
was  one  so  far  as  his  manner  of  life  came  under  my 


LORD    CLAN  WILLIAM  231 

notice,  was  much  to  be  regretted,  for  he  was  not  only 
an  accomplished  but  an  able  man.  He  spoke  and 
wrote  correctly  almost  every  European  language, 
and  on  every  question  discussed,  whether  it  dealt 
with  politics,  or  literature,  or  art,  he  had  always 
something  to  say  that  was  worth  hearing.  But 
continuous  labour  appeared  to  be  intolerable  to 
him.  Hence  he  divided  his  time  in  almost  equal 
proportions  with  the  amenities  of  society  and  field 
sports.  You  found  him  in  London,  as  long  as  the 
season  lasted,  now  dispensing  such  hospitalities  as 
clever  men  delight  in,  now  mixing  freely  in  crowds, 
where  he  was  always  welcome,  then  rushing  off 
when  the  proper  time  came,  either  to  kill  salmon 
in  Scotland — and  he  was  a  first-class  fisherman — 
or  to  shoot  chamois  in  the  Alps,  or  wild  boars  in 
Bohemia,  or  wolves  and  bears  in  Hungary  or 
Bussia.  His  life,  certainly,  could  not  be  called  a 
stirring  one,  but  it  was  both  an  innocent  and  a 
happy  one.  His  charming  wife  never  lost  her 
hold  on  his  affections,  and  shared  with  him  his 
rural  sports,  as  well  as  his  recreations.  She  died 
in  1855  at  a  Highland  inn,  whither  they  had 
gone  for  salmon  fishing,  and  he  can  never  again  be 
said  to  have  been  the  same  man.  The  letter  I 
received  from  him  in  answer  to  one  I  wrote  on 
hearing  of  his  bereavement  was  as  touching  as  a 
letter  could  be ;  but  it  failed  to  express  all  he  felt. 
Poor  fellow,  I  went  with  him  years  after  into  his 
bedroom  and  found  that  beside  his  own  uncurtained 


232      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

crib  stood  that  in  which,  after  her  Bohemian  fashion, 
his  wife  used  to  repose,  and  that  on  a  Hne  with  the 
foot  of  his  bed  hung  a  portrait  of  the  loved  and 
lost,  which  he  had  removed  from  the  drawing-room, 
in  order  that  on  it  his  eye  might  rest  the  last 
thing  on  extinguishing  his  candle  at  night,  the 
first  thing  on  awaking  in  the  morning. 

He  was  by  far  too  manly,  however,  to  let  the 
world  see  into  the  depths  of  his  heart.  He  returned 
after  a  season  to  some  of  his  old  habits,  and 
especially  to  his  autumnal  excursions  into  foreign 
lands,  and  retained  his  vigour  of  body  to  such  an 
extent  that  at  eighty-one  he  held  his  own  against 
Tyrolean  huntsmen,  both  in  scaling  the  mountains 
and  in  bringing  down  his  game. 

Lord  Clanwilliam  could  say  sharp  things  when 
he  liked,  and  was  not  by  any  means  particular 
against  w^hom  they  might  be  directed.  The  Duke 
of  Cumberland,  the  same  who  on  the  death  of 
William  iv.  became  King  of  Hanover,  made  a 
point  when  in  Berlin  of  appearing  on  all  State 
occasions  in  the  uniform  of  a  Prussian  cavalry 
colonel.  Meeting  Clanwilliam  on  one  occasion, 
dressed,  as  was  the  fashion  for  all  diplomatists, 
in  an  embroidered  blue  coat,  with  red  facings, 
white  breeches,  and  silk  stockings,  his  Koyal  High- 
ness shouted  out,  "  Why,  Clanwilliam,  you  look 
like  a  livery  servant."  "Perhaps  I  do,  sir,"  was 
the  answer,  "  but  the  livery  I  wear  is  that  of  my 
own  master,  and  not  that  of  a  foreign  Sovereign." 


LORD    CLANWILLIAM  233 

I  have  spoken  of  the  devotion  of  my  old  friend  to 
his  wife.  She  was  in  every  respect  worthy  of  it. 
Full  of  talent,  full  of  knowledge,  5''et  in  the  best 
and  holiest  meaning  of  the  term,  a  true  woman. 
Whether  conversing  with  wits,  or  chatting  with 
young  ladies,  or  superintending  the  affairs  of  her 
household,  she  was  always,  and  in  every  situation 
exactly  what  you  could  have  wished  her  to  be. 
Her  little  dinners  were  some  of  the  most  agreeable 
in  London.  The  guests,  rarely  exceeding  half-a- 
dozen,  were  always  agreeable,  and  often  gifted. 
You  met  among  them  the  Ambassadors  of  Austria 
and  Russia,  with  whom  it  was  always  pleasant  to 
converse,  because  they  put  no  reserve,  or  appeared 
to  put  none,  on  what  they  said ;  and  their  anec- 
dotes, both  of  their  own  and  of  foreign  courts,  were 
often  racy.  Of  all,  or  almost  all,  including  host  and 
hostess,  it  can  only  be  said,  while  I  write  these  lines, 
that  their  place  knoweth  them  no  more. 

Clanwilliam  took  no  active  part  in  politics  after 
the  era  of  the  first  Reform  Act.  His  views  were, 
for  the  most  part,  those  of  the  Peelites,  doubtless 
because  of  his  connection  with  Sidney  Herbert ; 
but  when  he  took  his  place — which  was  seldom — in 
the  House  of  Lords,  he  sat  on  the  Cross  benches. 
Like  the  Peelites  in  general,  his  feeling  towards 
Mr.  Disraeli  was  one  of  strong  personal  dislike,  yet 
he  so  far  controlled  it  as  never  to  go  into  violent 
opposition  even  after  the  death  of  Lord  Derby. 
Naturally   enough,   he   disapproved   of  the   strong 


234      REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

ante-Reform  policy  which  found  no  favour  with 
the  Tory  Government,  but  he  made  no  public 
move  in  opposition  to  it,  contenting  himself  by 
censuring  its  objects  in  private  letters. 

On  the  death  of  Lord  Dalhousie,  the  Duke  of 
Wellington,  as  Lord  Warden  of  the  Cinque  Ports, 
nominated  Lord  Clanwilliam  to  the  captaincy  of 
Deal  Castle.  In  a  pecuniary  point  of  view  the 
appointment  was  little  worth,  but  it  gave  to  the 
incumbent  a  marine  residence,  next  to  that  of 
Walmer  Castle  perhaps  the  most  agreeable  on  the 
south-east  coast.  To  Lord  Clanwilliam  the  gift 
was  particularly  acceptable,  as  he  had  no  country 
house  in  England,  and  not  any  to  which  he  was  in 
the  habit  of  going,  on  his  property  in  Ireland.  A 
portion  of  every  autumn  he  spent  at  Deal,  as  long 
as  Lady  Clanwilliam  lived,  much  to  her  satisfaction 
and  to  the  delight  of  his  sons  and  daughters. 

How  far  their  familiarity  with  the  sea  and  all  its 
moods  created  or  only  nourished  a  passion  in  his 
sons  for  adventure,  I  do  not  know,  but  two  of  them 
entered  the  navy,  the  eldest  to  earn  a  good  name 
as  an  officer,  and  to  reach  flag  rank  ;  the  younger,  to 
fall  a  sacrifice  to  his  zeal  in  the  service.  Torpedoes 
were  things  unknown  in  this  country  forty  years 
ago.  Young  Meade,  then  a  lieutenant,  turned  his 
attention  to  the  subject  and  worked  hard  to  perfect 
an  instrument,  if  not  precisely  the  same  with  that 
which  has  since  expanded  into  a  recognised  imple- 
ment in  war,  in  principle  closely  corresponding  to 


THE    MARQUIS    OF   SALISBURY  235 

it.  When  filling  the  shell  with  which  his  craft  was 
to  be  armed,  a  spark  unfortunately  fell  upon  some 
loose  powder ;  an  explosion  followed,  and  Meade, 
as  well  as  the  seamen  who  aided  him  in  his  labours, 
was  killed  on  the  spot. 

One  fact  more  I  may  venture  to  state  in  connec- 
tion with  my  old  friend's  fondness  for  Deal  Castle  : 
it  was  there  that  he  suggested  to  me  the  under- 
taking of  a  work  which  I  subsequently  completed, 
and  towards  the  completion  of  which  he  was  of 
great  service  to  me.  I  allude  to  the  transla- 
tion of  Brialmont's  Life  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington, 
on  the  military  portion  of  which  the  people's  edition 
of  my  own  volume  is  mainly  founded. 

Lord  Clanwilliam  retained  his  vigour  both  of 
body  and  mind  to  a  great  age.  In  1880,  however, 
his  strength  began  to  fail,  and  he  became  subject 
to  frequent  attacks  of  bronchitis.  In  1880  he  died, 
having  reached  his  eighty-sixth  year. 

The  Marquis  of  Salisbury 

From  the  list  of  guests  at  Walmer  Castle, 
the  names  of  Lord  Salisbury^  and  his  charming 
(first)  wife  must  not  be  omitted.  Lord  Salisbury 
possessed  a  large  share  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington's 
confidence,  and  deserved  it.  Without  being  bril- 
liant, he  was  endowed  with  the  more  solid  gifts 
of  great  good  sense  and  a  sound  judgment.     Like 

'   The  second  Marquis,  wlio  iliiul  in  1868. 


236      REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

his  illustrious  friend,  he  held  that  such  measures  as 
Catholic  Emancipation  ought  to  be  dealt  with  on 
grounds  of  expediency  rather  than  of  abstract 
principle.  The  disability  to  which,  however. 
Catholics  were  subjected  at  the  period  of  the 
Revolution  in  1G88  had  been  imposed  for  special 
reasons,  and  the  reasons  for  their  imposition 
having,  in  his  opinion,  lost  their  force,  justice 
required  that  the  disabilities  should  be  removed. 
At  the  same  time  he  held  that,  looking  to  the  con- 
dition of  Ireland,  where  the  great  landed  pro- 
prietors, or  most  of  them,  professed  one  religion, 
and  the  bulk  of  the  people,  including  a  majority 
of  the  shopkeeping  and  perhaps  also  the  profes- 
sional classes,  adhered  to  another,  the  entire  and 
unconditional  repeal  of  the  laws  as  they  existed  in 
1827  would  be  unwise.  While,  therefore,  during 
Lord  Liverpool's  administration,  he  inclined  more 
to  Cannincr's  views  on  that  head  than  to  those  of 
Lord  Eldon,  he  seems  to  have  kept  in  reserve 
a  condition,  without  securing  which  he  would  not 
be  a  party  to  repeal ;  though  the  opportunity  of 
explaining  what  it  was  never  occurred  till  the 
Duke  became  Prime  Minister.  We  all  feel  now 
that  George  iii.'s  determination  to  abdicate  rather 
than  consent  to  break  in  upon  the  settlement  of 
1688,  was  a  great  misfortune  to  the  country.  Had 
he  yielded  to  the  remonstrances  of  his  faithful 
minister  Pitt,  Ireland  might  have  been  ere  now  as 
amenable  a  portion  of  the  empire  as  Scotland  or 


THE   MARQUIS   OF   SALISBURY  237 

Wales.  For  in  1801  the  faith  of  the  Irish  in  their 
French  allies  was  shaken,  and  Napoleon's  treatment 
of  the  Pope  a  few  years  later  made  them  positively 
hostile  to  him. 

Nor  can  it  be  denied  that  the  good  King's 
obstinacy  afforded  too  much  ground  for  the  com- 
plaint that  Ireland  had  been  cajoled  into  the 
parliamentary  union  with  England.  For  though  it 
be  quite  true  that  the  Cabinet,  of  which  Pitt  was 
the  head,  never  gave,  as  such,  an  explicit  promise, 
nor  anything  like  an  explicit  promise,  that  emanci- 
pation would  follow  at  once  upon  the  union ;  it  is 
equally  certain  that  individuals  connected  with  the 
Irish  Government  won  over  many,  who  would 
have  otherwise  voted  against  them  in  the  Irish 
Parliament,  to  expect  that  such  would  be  the 
sequence  of  events.  The  consequence  was,  that  a 
measure  carried  by  means  of  deceit  as  well  as  gross 
corruption,  so  far  from  drawing  the  Irish  and  English 
people  together,  produced  a  directly  opposite  effect. 
To  the  wrongs  inflicted  on  their  manufacturing 
industries  by  a  British  Parliament — for  the  Acts 
passed  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  protecting  British 
industry  ruined  that  of  Ireland — was  now  added  the 
bitter  thought  that  in  a  point  at  least  as  interest- 
ing to  the  people  at  large  as  either  their  woollen  or 
their  cotton  trades,  they  had  been  over- reached. 
Nor  did  these  evils  come  alone.  The  suppression 
of  the  Irish  Parliament  gave  a  prodigious  impulse 
to  absenteeism,  the  greatest  curse  that  ever  befell 


238      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

a  purely  agricultural  country,  of  which  the  eftects 
were  soon  apparent  in  country-houses  falling  every- 
where into  ruins,  and  towns,  including  Dublin 
itself,  deserted  by  the  gentry. 

Lord  Salisbury  was  too  young  to  have  been  in 
any  way  connected  with  this  great  political  move, 
either  in  promoting  or  opposing  it.  Maynooth 
likewise  had  been  established,  and  was  in  full 
swing,  before  he  entered  public  life.  He  could 
therefore  only  notice  with  regret,  as  others  did,  the 
evil  influence  which  this  exercised  over  the  people 
through  their  clergy.  Mr.  Pitt  doubtless  meant 
well  when  he  provided  for  Irish  aspirants  to  the 
priesthood  a  place  of  education  in  their  own  land. 
He  persuaded  himself  that,  trained  amid  home 
associations,  a  new  generation  of  religious  teachers 
would  inculcate  loyalty  upon  their  flocks.  He  was 
mistaken.  The  old  priest  educated  at  Douay  or 
Salamanca  belonged  not  infrequently  to  a  good 
family.  He  might  not  be  satisfied  with  his  position 
when  he  returned  to  Ireland — how  indeed  could  he 
be  ?  But,  with  rare  exceptions,  he  held  aloof  from 
secret  conspiracies,  and  lived  on  excellent  terms  with 
such  neighbours  as  still  lingered  on  their  estates, 
whether  they  were  Koman  Catholics  or  Protestants. 
It  is  not  pretended  that  he  did  not  share  in  the 
general  discontent  that  prevailed  among  his  flock. 
On  the  contrary,  he  made  no  secret  of  his  abhorrence 
of  the  deceit  which  had  been  practised  on  them  as  he 
contended,  but  he  opposed  himself  to  unconstitu- 


THE   MARQUIS    OF    SALISBURY  239 

tional  means  of  redressing  the  wrong,  his  hostility 
to  the  Government  being  passive,  rather  than  active. 

I  am  not  now,  be  it  observed,  stating  anything 
on  the  authority  of  mere  tradition.  I  began  my 
military  career  in  Ireland  so  long  ago  as  1812,  and 
found  priests,  educated  abroad,  still  carrying  on 
their  ministrations  in  many  parishes.  With  several 
I  became  personally  acquainted,  and  found  them  to 
be  at  once  well-informed  gentlemen  and  agreeable 
companions.  They  slid  out,  however,  by  degrees, 
and  were  succeeded  by  the  very  worst  specimens  of 
an  ecclesiastical  body  in  Europe.  Taken  almost 
exclusively  from  the  small  farmer  class,  and  imbued 
with  all  their  prejudices,  the  Maynooth  priest  is 
trained  to  consider  himself  the  consecrated  Pro- 
tector of  the  People  against  a  tyrannical  Govern- 
ment, and  being  dependent  for  subsistence  on  the 
voluntary  offerings  of  his  flock,  he  takes  care  to 
conciliate  their  good  opinion  by  posing  ostenta- 
tiously in  this  character.  And  very  great  is  his 
influence  so  long  as  he  guides  the  stream  in  the 
channel  through  which  he  finds  it  flowing ;  let  him 
try  to  stop  or  divert  it  into  another,  and  recent 
experience  proves  that  he  is  powerless. 

More  than  one  opportunity  presented  itself 
between  1801  and  1829  of  enlisting  the  Irish 
priesthood  on  the  side  of  the  Government,  but  no 
advantage  was  taken  of  them.  In  Pitt's  plan,  for  a 
plan  he  had,  though  prevented  from  bringing  it 
forward,  provision  was  made  for  subdividing  the 


240       REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

whole  body.  What  the  "Talents"  intended  to  do 
when  they  acceded  to  office  after  his  death  is  not  so 
clear,  further  than  that  so  determined  were  they  to 
force  the  King's  hand,  that  they  took  a  step  which 
gave  him  the  much  desired  opportunity  of  getting 
rid  of  them. 

Had  Canning  and  Lord  Wellesley  succeeded  in 
forming  an  administration,  there  is  reason  to 
believe  that  a  measure  of  emancipation,  somewhat 
similar  to  that  which  Pitt  was  desirous  of  carrying, 
would  have  been  put  forward.  For  up  to  that  date 
the  prospect  of  having  a  provision  made  for  them, 
out  of  the  public  revenue,  was  hailed  by  the  Romish 
hierarchy  as  very  desirable.  Nor  did  they  refuse 
either  then,  or  in  1824,  to  grant  to  the  Crown  a 
veto  on  the  nomination  of  their  Bishops.  But  when 
it  was  made  clear  to  them  that  George  iv.,  their 
earnest  champion,  while  yet  Prince  of  Wales,  was 
become  as  hostile  as  his  father  had  been,  they 
began  to  see  that  a  supplicant  attitude  would  do 
nothing  for  them,  and  that  only  by  working  on  the 
fears  of  the  ministers  could  they  hope  to  prevail. 
From  that  hour  their  tone  was  changed.  Their 
champions  in  and  out  of  Parliament  made  no  more 
appeals  to  the  generosity  of  the  two  Houses. 
What  they  demanded  from  their  clients  was,  that 
they  should  be  placed  on  a  perfect  equality,  so  far 
as  political  rights  were  concerned,  with  members  of 
the  Established  Church,  and  in  regard  to  ecclesi- 
astical affairs  on  the  same  footing  with  Noncon- 


THE    MARQUIS    OF    SALISBURY  241 

formist  bodies.  As  to  concessions  on  the  one 
hand,  and  favours  to  be  conferred  on  the  other, 
points  like  these  entered  no  longer  into  public 
discussion. 

The  hierarchy  had  proclaimed  that  they  would 
not  accept  payment  from  the  State,  nor  permit  the 
Crown  to  interfere  in  their  ecclesiastical  arrange- 
ments. What  they  demanded  and  what  alone  they 
would  accept  was  the  repeal  of  laws,  some  of  which 
were  so  cruel  that,  for  mere  shame,  nobody  could 
now  be  found  to  put  them  in  execution.  They 
were  content,  they  added,  to  subsist  as  their  pre- 
decessors had  done  before  them,  on  the  liberality 
of  the  laity,  provided  that  to  the  Roman  Catholic 
laity  the  same  rights  and  privileges  were  extended 
as  to  their  Protestant  fellow-subjects.  It  could 
not  fail  but  that  this  show  of  disinterestedness 
should  endear  the  priests  to  their  flocks. 

The  boldest  champion  of  the  cause  which  they 
favoured  was  on  all  occasions  the  most  abject  in 
professions  of  respect  for  their  order.  O'Connell 
did  nothing,  or  professed  to  do  nothing,  without 
the  sanction  of  the  clergy,  and  to  what  effect  he 
made  use  of  their  influence  over  the  masses  every- 
body knows. 

Had  Canning  lived  to  wield  the  power  of  the 
State  any  number  of  years,  it  is  doubtful  whether 
Catholic  Emancipation  would  have  been  carried  in 
that  generation.  He  himself  had  been  its  advocate 
ever  since  he  entered  public  life,   Init  George  iv. 

Q 


242       REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

had  changed  his  mind,  and  Canning  knew  well  that 
the  first  attempt  on  his  part  to  put  constraint  upon 
the  royal  will  would  be  followed  by  immediate 
dismissal  from  office.  Nay  more :  had  the  Duke 
become  Prime  Minister  in  1827  and  Canning  re- 
tained his  vigour  of  body  and  mind,  the  Duke  him- 
self would  have  found  it  impossible  in  1829  to 
carry  the  measure.  The  same  thing  may  be  said  of 
the  Repeal  of  the  Test  and  Corporation  Acts,  to 
which  Canning  always  declared  himself  opposed, 
and  in  resisting  which  he  would  have  voted  with 
the  ministry,  just  as  he  would  have  taken  an 
opposite  course  whenever  a  Catholic  Kelief  Bill 
might  be  brought  forward.  For  though  he  had  no 
sympathy  with  either  Lord  Eldon  or  Peel,  he  had 
as  little  liking  for  Lord  Grey ;  and,  making  a  pre- 
tence of  deep  consideration  for  the  feelings  of  the 
sovereign,  he  would  have  delivered  a  brilliant 
speech  and  voted  against  the  conclusion  to  which 
it  naturally  led.  But  Canning  died,  and  the  idea 
of  forming  a  purely  Canningite  party  died  with  him. 
The  Duke  came  into  power,  and  those  events  fol- 
lowed, of  which  the  inevitable  consequences  are 
every  day  becoming  more  and  more  apparent. 

Do  I  blame  the  Duke  for  conceding  to  the  King's 
Roman  Catholic  subjects  what  ought  to  have  been 
conceded  to  them  twenty  years  previously  ?  Not 
at  all — neither  did  Lord  Salisbury.  But  I  do 
blame,  as  Lord  Salisbury  did,  all  those  whether  in 
the  Cabinet  or  out  of  it,  who  forced  the  Duke  to 


THE    MARQUIS    OF   SALISBURY  243 

erase  from  his  Bill  all  the  clauses  which  afforded 
any  chance  of  rendering  it  politically  effective  for 
good.  I  allude  to  the  provision  made  in  the  original 
draft  of  his  scheme  for  bringing  the  lloman  Catholic 
clergy  of  Ireland  under  the  control  of  the  Govern- 
ment. 

Whether  the  priesthood  would  have  consented 
in  1829  to  accept  the  salaries  he  proposed  to 
settle  upon  them,  and  to  take  out  licences  from 
the  civil  power  for  the  performance  of  their  ecclesi- 
astical functions  is  uncertain.  In  1829  they  offici- 
ated, subject  to  these  conditions,  in  Holland  and 
Prussia,  nor  could  any  good  reason  be  assigned 
why  they  should  not  do  the  same  in  the  United 
Kingdom.  But  their  willinofness  or  unwillinofness 
to  comply  with  the  conditions  proposed  by  the 
legislation  was  not,  in  the  Duke's  opinion,  a  matter 
for  the  Government  to  take  into  account.  The  time, 
he  contended,  had  come  for  admitting  Roman 
Catholic  citizens  within  the  pale  of  the  constitu- 
tion, and  it  rested  entirely  with  the  legislation  and 
the  government  to  determine  in  what  manner  this 
desirable  end  should  be  attained. 

Full  of  this  idea,  and  satisfied  that  with  or  with- 
out some  show  of  reluctance  the  Irish  priests  would 
pocket  their  salaries  and  take  out  their  licences, 
the  Duke  explained  his  scheme  to  Lord  Salisbury, 
and  requested  him  to  move  the  address  in  the 
House  of  Lords  in  answer  to  the  speech  from  the 
throne.      This  Lord  Salisbury  willingly  consented 


244      REMINISCENCES   OF    DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

to  do.  But  when  the  opposition  of  Peel  and  the 
Bishops  compelled  the  Duke  to  modify  his  plan, 
Lord  Salisbury  felt  himself  obliged  to  retract  his 
promise.  He  looked  upon  the  rejected  clauses  as 
the  main  strength  of  the  Bill,  and  could  be  no  con- 
senting party  to  a  measure  from  which  they  were 
erased.  The  reply  to  the  address  was  therefore 
moved,  not  by  him,  but  by  Lord  de  Bos,  the  senior 
English  Baron,  and  a  good  soldier,  but  possessed 
neither  of  territorial  nor  much  personal  influence. 

The  passing  of  the  Boman  Catholic  Belief  Bill 
broke  up  the  Tory  party,  and  it  did  more.  It  em- 
bittered private  feeling,  making  personal  enemies  of 
many  who  had  been  friends  through  life.  On  Lord 
Salisbury  it  did  not  operate  thus  mischievously ; 
for  whatever  personal  estrangement  followed  his 
refusal  to  move  the  address  was  entirely  on  the 
Duke's  side.  The  estrangement,  however,  if  such 
it  deserved  to  be  called,  was  not  of  long  continu- 
ance, for  Lord  Salisbury,  while  lamenting  that  the 
Bill  had  not  been  more  wisely  drawn,  abstained 
from  voting  against  it ;  so  likewise,  after  the  dis- 
solution he  refused  to  join  the  band  of  discontented 
Tories,  who  with  their  eyes  open  to  the  inevitable 
consequence  of  the  proceeding,  combined  with  the 
Whio-s  to  overthrow  the  Government.  It  was  not, 
therefore,  with  him  as  it  was  with  many  others, 
both  Peers  and  Commons,  when  the  awful  spectre 
of  Parliamentary  Reform  rose  up  before  them.  He 
had  no  humble  pie  to  eat,  but  as  a  steady  ally  he 


THE   MARQUIS   OF   SALISBURY  245 

fought  side  by  side  with  the  Duke  the  battle  of 
the  constitutional  monarchy,  and  lost  it. 

It  was  during  the  height  of  this  contest  that  I 
most  frequently  met  Lord  Salisbury  and  his  charm- 
inof  wife  at  Walmer  Castle.  A  o^ood  deal  of  corre- 
spondence  passed  between  us  both  then  and  subse- 
quently; but  as  it  bore  almost  exclusively  on  the 
political  questions  of  the  hour,  the  insertion  of  any 
portion  of  our  letters  here  would  only  tell  over 
ajrain  the  tale  that  has  been  told  elsewhere. 

Lord  Salisbury  took  much  interest,  as  was 
natural,  in  the  politics  of  his  own  county.  There, 
Mr.,  afterwards  Sir  Henry,  Ward  was  his  great 
adversary ;  for  both  had  established,  or  were  mainly 
instrumental  in  establishing,  county  newspapers, 
and  both  wrote — each  for  his  own  journal.  Several 
of  Lord  Salisbury's  letters  to  me  referred  to  this 
matter,  and  asked  for  aid  in  the  controversy,  which 
I  dare  say  was  rendered.  But  Salisbury  was  some- 
thing more  than  a  political  partisan ;  he  was  an 
admirable  man  of  business,  when  working  for  the 
public  good  as  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the  Militia 
and  afterwards  as  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Middlesex — 
or  when  improving  his  own  property,  which  had 
somewhat  got  into  confusion.  With  what  measure 
of  success  the  latter  enterprise  was  attended  may 
be  judged  of  by  his  boast  that  he  succeeded  to  a 
nominal  rent  of  £25,000  a  year,  and  would  leave  to 
his  successor  one  of  £70,000.  The  truth  is  that 
Lord   Salisbury  was   no    more   ashamed   to  defeat 


246      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

chicanery  aimed  at  himself  than  to  prevent  or 
expose  jobs  in  public  affairs. 

In  1835  a  fire  broke  out  which  destroyed  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  Hatfield  House.  It  originated 
in  a  suite  of  apartments  occupied  by  the  Dowager- 
Marchioness,  a  leader  of  fashion  in  the  days  of 
George  lii.,  and  to  the  end  of  her  life  a  conspicuous 
figure  in  London  society.  I  see  her,  while  I  write, 
mounted,  of  an  afternoon,  on  a  horse,  to  which 
gossip,  utterly  false,  afiirmed  that  she  was  tied, 
and  in  the  evening  gorgeously  dressed  and  covered 
with  valuable  jewels.  She  was  then  upwards  of 
eighty  years  of  age,  falling  indeed  into  her  dotage, 
but  still  a  thorough  lady,  and  from  time  to  time 
even  brilliant. 

The  house  was  full  of  visitors  when  the  fire  broke 
out,  but  the  old  lady's  apartments  were  so  entirely 
removed  from  others,  that  the  whole  were  in  a 
blaze  before  the  alarm  was  given.  By  no  effort 
could  they  be  reached,  and  all  the  water  poured 
upon  them  by  fire-engines  from  without  produced 
no  effect.  At  last  the  whole  wing  fell  in,  and  of 
the  dear  old  lady  nothing  was  found  amid  the  ruins 
except  a  few  charred  bones,  near  which  lay  in  a 
molten  state  the  settings  of  the  ornaments  she  had 
worn  at  her  last  dinner.  The  effect  produced  upon 
all  who  witnessed  the  catastrophe  may  be  imagined, 
and  Lord  Salisbury  was  overwhelmed  with  grief 

A  great  historic  house  could  not  however  be  left 
to  become  a  ruin,  and  to  restore  it  to  the  condition 


THE    MARQUIS    OF   SALISBURY  247 

in  which  it  was  prior  to  the  fire  must  necessarily 
be  attended  with  expense.  Like  a  sensible  man, 
Lord  Salisbury  set  about  the  work  of  restoration 
judiciously.  He  made  his  contract  with  architect 
and  builder,  but  stipulated  that  all  necessary 
materials  should  be  supplied  by  himself.  How  he 
got  together  stones,  bricks,  tiles  and  such  like,  the 
tradition  has  not  been  preserved,  but  the  timber 
required — and  both  the  quantity  and  variety  were 
great — he  provided  thus.  Dressed  like  a  master 
carpenter,  he  visited  numerous  yards,  and  made  all 
the  necessary  purchases  on  equitable  terms,  in 
other  words  on  such  terms  as  timber  merchants 
consider  to  be  fair,  when  dealing  with  the  trade. 
There  was  of  course  a  mighty  clamour  as  soon  as 
the  timber  merchants  discovered  the  prank  that 
had  been  played  upon  them.  They  did  not  so 
much  as  pretend  to  disguise  the  truth  that  had 
they  been  aware  of  the  real  condition  of  their 
customer,  they  would  have  charged  at  least  fifty 
per  cent,  more  for  their  goods  than  they  knew  them 
to  be  worth. 

Lord  Salisbury's  hospitalities,  both  at  Hatfield 
and  in  Grafton  Street,  were  very  liberal.  He  had 
an  admirable  helpmate  in  his  first  wife,  who  took  in 
some  sort  the  part  of  Lady  Castlereagh  in  keeping 
the  Tories  together.  I  do  not  mean  for  a  moment 
to  undervalue  the  qualities  of  the  lady  who,  on  her 
lamented  death,  became  Marchioness  of  Salisbury. 
The  two  were  different  in  almost  every  respect,  yet 


248       REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

each  in  her  own  way  was  most  agreeable.  Number 
two — at  the  moment  when  I  write,  Lady  Derby — 
has  perhaps  more  mind  than  her  predecessor  could 
boast  of.  She  reads  much  and  thinks  deeply,  she 
is  gentle  also,  though  somewhat  retiring.  Her  part 
does  not  consist  in  making  her  soirees  attractive ; 
she  never  was  nor  ever  can  be  a  skilful  recruiting 
oflficer  for  her  political  party.  Her  predecessor,  on 
the  other  hand,  won  all  hearts  by  her  evident  desire 
to  please,  and  a  tact  which  was  the  outcome  less  of 
knowledge  of  the  world  than  of  genuine  goodness 
of  heart.  There  was  no  country  house  far  or  near 
in  which  it  was  more  satisfactory  to  find  yourself 
the  guest.  From  breakfast  till  luncheon,  and  again 
from  luncheon  till  dinner  you  were  master  of  your 
own  time.  If  a  sportsman  you  made  one  of  a  group 
for  whom  coverts  stood  open  and  beaters  were  in 
attendance.  If  you  preferred  riding,  a  saddle  horse 
was  at  your  disposal.  During  dinner  the  conversa- 
tion was  always  lively,  because  your  noble  host 
took  care  to  intermix  wits  and  scholars  with 
charming  women,  statesmen,  and  men  about  town. 
The  band  of  his  militia  regiment,  and  a  very  fair 
band  it  was,  played  on  more  formal  occasions  just 
enough  to  fill  up  pauses  without  interrupting  con- 
versation. And  finally,  in  the  drawing-room,  the 
sober  whist-table,  music,  charades,  and  story-telling 
had  their  respective  votaries  till  bed-time.  I  cannot 
recollect  a  dull  evening  at  Hatfield,  though  when 
Theodore  Hook  was  there,  and  there  he  often  was. 


THE   MARQUIS    OF   SALISBURY  249 

the  fun  grew  fast  and  furious.  Poor  Hook  always 
drank  his  full  share  of  wine  topped  up  with  an 
occasional  glass  of  brandy  and  was  thereafter  in  his 
glory.  Seating  himself  at  the  piano  he  kept  the 
company  in  a  roar  with  his  clever  improvisations. 
Well  would  it  have  been  for  him  had  he  gone  to 
bed  as  most  of  us  did  at  a  reasonable  hour.  Instead 
of  this,  he  gathered  round  him  in  his  chamber  some 
of  the  more  thoughtless  of  his  fellow-guests,  for 
whom  the  butler  provided  cards  and  materials  for 
punch ;  and  morning  often  found  them  deep  in 
play  from  which  Hook  rose  almost  always  a  loser. 
Hence  not  unfrequently  when  we  met  at  breakfast, 
it  was  found  that  an  unexpected  summons  had 
called  him  to  London,  the  true  cause  of  absence 
being  this  :  that  he  had  gone  to  borrow  money  at  an 
exorbitant  discount,  wherewith  to  pay  off  I.O.U.'s 
and  challenge  other  risks  not  often  more  fortunate 
than  those  which  had  preceded  them  in  their  issues. 
Let  me  not  be  misunderstood.  Gambling  was 
never  countenanced  in  any  shape  at  Hatfield,  and 
that  which  went  on  on  the  sly  could  scarcely  be 
accounted  such.  But  Hook  had  a  passion  for  play, 
which  he  could  not  conquer,  and  the  charm  of  his 
wit  brought  young  men  about  him  who  might  have 
little  or  no  taste  for  games  of  chance  and  lost  or 
won  with  perfect  honesty. 

When  the  Tories  grasped  at  power  in  1835,  Lord 
Salisbury  gave  them  his  support,  though  scarcely 
approving  Peel's  celebrated  letter  to  his  constituents. 


250      REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

He  seems  always  to  have  distrusted  Peel,  yet  he 
stood  by  him  again  in  1842,  professing  to  believe 
that  a  minister  so  deeply  pledged  to  his  supporters 
would  scarcely  throw  them  over  a  second  time 
without  warning.  Hence  on  the  repeal  of  the  Corn 
Laws,  and  the  subsequent  break-up  of  the  Tory 
party,  he  threw  in  his  lot  with  Lord  Derby  and 
Mr.  Disraeli. 

In  Lord  Derby's  last  administration  Lord  Salis- 
bury took  office  as  President  of  the  Council.  That 
place  he  retained  till  the  celebrated  leap  in  the 
dark,  when  with  Lord  Carnarvon  and  General  Peel 
he  resigned.  His  life  thereafter  was  that  of  a 
nobleman,  not  certainly  indifferent  to  public  affairs, 
but  neither  desirous  nor  competent  to  control  them. 
He  voted  according  to  his  conscience  on  every 
question  that  came  before  the  House  of  Lords,  thus 
holding  himself  entirely  free  from  party  obligations. 
At  his  death  he  left  behind  him  an  estate,  much 
improved,  and  the  character  of  a  man  just  and 
honourable  in  all  his  dealings,  shrewd  in  business, 
sagacious  in  council,  and,  though  prudent,  both 
generous,  when  the  need  arose,  and  hospitable. 


CHAPTEE    V 

"dii  minorum  gentium" — Continued. 

If  I  were  to  particularise  one  by  one  all  the 
members  of  this  class  of  guests  to  whom  the  Duke's 
hospitalities  were  extended,  a  list  of  names  of  un- 
conscionable length  would  disfigure  my  pages. 
From  all  parts  of  England,  from  Scotland  and 
from  Ireland,  poured  in  between  1830  and  1832, 
from  day  to  day,  peers  of  the  realm,  members  of 
the  House  of  Commons,  and  aspirants  for  seats, 
the  greater  portion  of  whom  had  co-operated  in 
overthrowing  their  host's  administration.  Re- 
pentant they  were  now  when  it  was  too  late,  and 
eager  to  be  advised  as  to  the  course  to  be  pursued 
by  the  very  man  whom  in  their  interval  of  blind 
rage  they  had  driven  from  power.  His  conduct  to 
them  all  was  marked  by  the  greatest  possible 
amount  of  generosity  and  forbearance.  Never  once 
in  their  presence  did  a  syllable  escape  his  lips  of 
reference  to  the  past — and  to  all  their  suggestions, 
however  extravagant  some  of  them  might  be,  he 
listened  with  the  utmost  patience.  Not  that  he 
did  not  feel  the  wrong  they  had  done,  less  to 
himself  than  to  the  principles  of  which  they  pro- 

S61 


252      REMINISCENCES   OF    DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

fessed  to  be  the  guardians.  "  You  see  how  they 
throng  about  me  now,"  he  said  to  me  on  one 
occasion,  after  all  sorts  of  wild  projects  for  resisting 
the  abolition  of  nomination  boroughs  had  been 
suggested.  "As  if  I  cared  a  two-penny  damn 
whether  their  personal  influence  can  be  propped 
up  or  not.  If,  when  masters  of  these  boroughs, 
they  had  thought  more  of  the  country  and  less  of 
themselves,  the  storm  which  threatened  to  sweep 
away  all  that  made  England  what  she  is  might 
never  have  come,  and  now  they  want  me  to  put  my 
neck  in  the  noose — for  what  ?  That  whenever  I 
take  a  step  again  of  which  they  disapprove,  they 
may  again  overthrow  the  Government,  of  which 
they  clamour  that  I  should  be  the  head.  I  will 
certainly  do  my  best  to  defeat  the  Bill,  but  it  will 
not  be  because  I  approve  of  the  use  these  gentlemen 
made  of  their  influence,  but  because  under  the  new 
constitution  which  the  ministers  propose  to  give  us 
I  don't  see  how  the  King's  Government  is  to  be 
carried  on." 

Under  these  circumstances  it  will  best  suit 
my  own  inclination,  and  prove  most  agreeable 
perhaps  to  those  who  may  read  what  is  written, 
if  passing  by  these  selfish  and  not  overwise  mag- 
nates, I  place  in  my  gallery  the  portraits  of  one 
or  two  individuals,  by  no  means  unknown  while 
they  lived,  though  doubtless  forgotten  long  ago 
even  by  their  contemporaries,  should  any  such 
survive. 


DIRTY       CHARLIE  253 


Sir  Charles  Natter 


It  can  hardly  be  said  that  Admiral  Sir  Charles 
Napier  belonged  to  the  order  either  of  ciphers  or 
oddities.  Between  him  and  the  Duke  there  was 
indeed  little  in  common,  and  the  circumstances 
under  which  he  became  the  Duke's  guest  at 
Walmer  were  scarcely  calculated  to  convert  ac- 
quaintance into  intimacy.  When  Belgium  broke 
away  from  Holland,  and  England  joined  France  in 
undoing  the  work  of  her  own  hands,  Sir  Charles 
Napier  commanded  the  English  portion  of  the 
combined  fleet  which  had  it  in  charge  to  blockade 
the  mouths  of  the  Scheldt.  Nothing  could  be 
more  distasteful  to  the  Duke  than  this  alliance 
unless  it  were  the  object  for  which  it  had  been 
contracted.  But  the  gentleman  was  too  strong 
in  him  to  allow  these  feelings  to  operate  against 
the  officers  who  were  acting  in  obedience  to  their 
respective  Governments.  He  therefore  invited 
both  the  French  and  the  English  admirals  (the 
fleet  being  detained  by  stress  of  weather  in  the 
Downs)  to  dine  and  sleep  at  the  castle.  The 
French  admiral  declined,  the  English  accepted, 
the  invitation;  and  "dirty  Charlie"  arrived  fully 
justifying  in  the  condition  of  his  attire  the 
sobriquet  which  his  contemporaries  bestowed 
upon  him.  It  is  not  necessary  to  describe  in 
detail  either  the  career  or  the  personal  appearance 
or  manners  of  a  man  so  well  known  as  Sir  Charles 


254      REMINISCENCES   OF    DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

Napier,  both  in  society  and  in  the  House  of 
Commons.  A  brave  man,  a  good  seaman,  and  a 
hard  drinker,  Napier  reached  the  summit  of  his 
renown  when  with  an  inferior  force  he  destroyed 
the  fleet  of  Don  Miguel,  and  opened  thereby  for 
the  young  Queen  the  way  to  the  Portuguese 
throne.  His  latest  services  both  against  Belgium 
and  Kussia  added  no  fresh  laurel  wreath  to  the 
chaplet  already  won.  The  English  fleet  had  no 
share  whatever  in  wresting  Antwerp  from  the 
Dutch,  and  the  naval  campaign  in  the  Baltic 
scarcely  fulfilled  the  expectations  which  Sir  James 
Graham's  famous  after-dinner  speech  at  the  Reform 
Club  had  created.  At  Walmer  Castle  Napier  was 
very  quiet,  very  ill  dressed,  and  not  over  cleanly 
about  the  hands ;  and  forasmuch  as  he  takes  his 
place  in  this  portrait  gallery  only  so  far  as  he 
connects  himself  with  his  illustrious  host,  it  scarcely 
becomes  me  to  discuss  at  length  either  his  public  or 
private  character.  His  correspondence  with  Delane 
while  in  command  of  the  Baltic  fleet  gives  indeed  a 
curious  insight  into  the  influence  exercised  at  that 
date  over  the  fate  of  Empires  by  the  Times  news- 
paper. That,  however,  is  a  point  on  which  it  would 
be  injudicious  to  dilate,  because  it  could  not  be 
touched  at  all  without  reference  to  what  was  in 
point  of  fact  the  moving  power  which  sent  Lord 
Bafylan  and  his  army  from  Varna  into  the  Crimea. 
Therefore  we  take  our  leave  of  "dirty  Charlie" 
with  this    passing  remark,  that   those  who  knew 


SIR    ROBERT    WILSON  255 

him  the  most  intimately  esteemed  him  the  most 
highly,  though  blind  neither  to  his  failings  nor  to 
the  fact  that  daring  courage  was  the  one  sailor-like 
quality  which  gained  for  him  a  good  name  both  in 
the  fleet  and  in  the  country. 

Sir  Robert  Wilson 

A  very  different  style  of  man,  both  in  dress  and 
appearance,  from  Napier  was  General  Sir  Robert 
Wilson.  In  one  respect,  indeed,  but  only  in  one, 
they  resembled  each  other.  They  were  both 
boasters.  But  while  Napier  contented  himself 
with  magnifying  his  own  exploits  at  sea,  Wilson 
made  the  most  of  his  exploits  in  the  held  and 
of  his  successes  with  the  fair  sex  and  his  triumphs 
in  diplomacy.  That  he  should  have  regarded  him- 
self as  a  first-rate  soldier  is  not  perhaps  to  be 
wondered  at.  He  had  served  in  Egypt  under 
Abercromby,  and  published  a  narrative  of  the 
campaign,  which,  appearing  at  a  time  when 
British  oflScers  rarely  pretended  to  be  capable  of 
writing  an  ordinary  despatch,  gained  him  enormous 
applause  ;  nor  is  it  doing  him  more  than  justice  to 
add  that  he  loved  fighting  for  its  own  sake,  and 
was  conspicuous  in  many  fields  for  personal  gallantry. 
He  saw  some  service  in  India,  was  present  at  the 
taking  of  the  Cape,  went  with  Beresford  to  South 
America,  and  had  borne  his  part  in  the  Duke  of 
York's  campaign  in  Flanders.  He  next  makes  his 
appearance  in  the    far    North,    accompanying   the 


256       REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

Russians  to  Eylau,  and  by  -  and  -  by,  when  the 
Peninsular  War  began,  he  attached  himself  to 
Marshal  Beresford,  and  through  him  obtained 
permission  to  raise  and  command  a  Portuguese 
irregular  corps,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of 
the  Lusitanian  Legion.  He  did  not  shine  as  an 
independent  leader  of  men.  Probably  the  materials 
with  which  he  had  to  work  were  none  of  the  best. 
But,  however  this  may  be,  he  contrived,  by  sending 
in  an  inflated  report  of  triumphs  achieved  which 
led  to  nothing,  so  to  dissatisfy  the  Duke,  then  Lord 
Wellington,  that  he  was  deprived  of  his  command. 
After  this,  when  Europe  rose  against  Napoleon,  he 
joined  the  allied  armies  in  Silesia,  and  was  present 
at  most  of  the  great  actions  that  followed,  including 
the  battles  of  Dresden  and  Leipsic.  Unfortunately 
for  himself,  Sir  Bobert  Wilson  chose  to  play  the 
rdle  of  a  bitter  Whig  politician.  Early  introduced 
to  Fox,  Sheridan,  Mr.,  afterwards  Lord  Grey, 
Erskine,  Fitzpatrick,  Sir  Francis  Burdett,  Lord 
Moira,  and  Tom  Paine,  he  imbibed  all  their  opinions 
respecting  the  tyrannies  of  George  iii.  and  the 
Liberalism  of  the  Prince  of  Wales,  and  out  of  this 
there  grew  in  him,  as  there  was  in  others,  an 
impatience  under  the  administration  of  Pitt,  the 
Duke  of  Portland,  and  Lord  Liverpool,  which 
vented  itself  in  terms  not  always  becoming,  and 
made  him  personally  obnoxious  to  the  powers  that 
were.  The  part  which  he  played  in  aiding  the 
escape  of  Colonel  Labotaire  did  him  no  good ;  yet 


SIR    ROBERT    WILSON  257 

it  was  characteristic  and  disinterested.  So  much 
can  hardly  be  said  of  his  foolish  interference  be- 
tween the  Life  Guards  and  the  mob  on  the  occasion 
of  the  Queen's  funeral.  His  visit  to  Brandenburg 
House  during  the  progress  of  the  trial  had  already- 
given  great  offence  to  George  iv.,  and  however 
well-intentioned  his  remonstrances  with  the  troops 
might  be,  it  was  not  a  proceeding  to  which  a  general 
officer  ought  to  have  lent  himself.  Let  me  not, 
however,  be  misunderstood.  England  never  had  a 
weaker  and  therefore  a  worse  Government  than  in 
the  days  of  Lord  Liverpool.  The  Queen's  trial,  as 
the  inquiries  into  her  proceedings  when  travelling 
on  the  Continent  came  to  be  called,  was  an  insult 
to  the  nation — for  though  no  one  will  now  speak  of 
her  as  a  model  of  decorum,  it  ill  became  her  Royal 
husband  to  visit  her  backslidings  as  he  did.  But 
Wilson  quite  forgot  what  was  due  to  the  Sovereign 
whose  commission  he  bore,  when  he  put  himself 
ostentatiously  in  the  front  rank  of  the  King's 
personal  enemies.  He  suffered  for  his  folly  by 
having  his  name  struck  out  of  the  army  list. 
Deprived  of  military  rank,  Wilson  got  himself 
elected  member  for  Southwark.  He  took  his 
seat,  as  might  be  expected,  on  the  Opposition 
benches,  and  so  deep  was  the  sympathy  felt  for 
him  by  the  party  to  which  he  belonged,  that  a 
subscription  was  set  on  foot  to  make  up  for  him 
the  pecuniary  damage  he  had  sustained.  A  con- 
siderable sum  of  money  was  raised — if  I  recollect 

B 


258       REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE   OF    WELLINGTON 

aright,  between  £15,000  and  £20,000 — which  he 
gratefully  accepted,  and  till  the  death  of  George  iv. 
posed  before  the  world  a  well-paid  martyr  to 
Liberal  principles. 

The  Duke,  though  not  blind  to  Wilson's  failmgs, 
which  had  their  roots  in  nothing  worse  than  lack 
of  sound  sense  and  morbid  self-appreciation,  never 
approved  of  the  severity  with  which  they  had  been 
visited.  He  was  no  more  able  to  prevent  Wilson's 
dismissal  from  the  army  than  he  had  been  able  to 
save  the  life  of  Marshal  Ney ;  but  he  seized  the 
first  opportunity  that  presented  itself  of  making 
amends  for  the  past.  On  his  recommendation  Sir 
Robert  was  restored  to  his  rank,  and  became 
titular  Colonel  of  the  15th  Hussars.  From  that 
day  Wilson  became  a  devoted  adherent  of  the 
Duke.  His  change  of  principles,  besides  costing 
him  his  seat  for  Southwark,  gave  great  offence 
to  the  subscribers  to  the  fund,  and  a  formal  request 
was  got  up,  that,  having  recovered  his  place  in  the 
army,  he  should  disgorge  the  price  of  his  martyr- 
dom. But  Wilson  was  not  the  man  to  be  disturbed 
by  any  such  ridiculous  clamour.  He  kept  his  money, 
and  treated  with  contempt  the  squibs  with  which 
the  Kadical  Press  assailed  him. 

Wilson  was  a  very  fine  -  looking  man.  His 
general  bearing  had  about  it  more  perhaps  of 
the  camp  than  of  the  court,  and  his  conversation 
was  almost  always  about  himself.  Covered  with 
foreign  orders,  he  delighted  in  referring  to  them, 


•'  BILLY       HOLMES  259 

to  the  occasions  on  which  they  were  bestowed,  and 
his  intimacy  with  the  sovereigns  who  conferred 
them.  Besides  this  he  took  care  that  the  world 
should  not  remain  in  ignorance  of  the  favour  with 
which  he  had  been  received  by  the  beauties  of  St. 
Petersburg,  Berlin,  and  Vienna.  You  could  not 
fail  to  observe  likewise,  that  he  regarded  himself 
as  irresistible, — for  if  by  chance  some  handsome 
woman  was  spoken  of  with  whom  he  was  not 
acquainted,  he  laid  himself  out  in  the  most  undis- 
guised manner  to  obtain  an  introduction  to  her. 
Another  of  his  peculiarities  was  this  :  Wherever  he 
settled  himself,  if  it  were  only  for  a  week,  he  put 
every  accessible  engine  at  work  to  find  out  what 
manner  of  people  his  neighbours  were,  how  they 
employed  themselves,  and  to  what  families  they 
belonged.  "  I  acquired  this  habit,"  he  used  to  say, 
"  in  the  field,  and  it  has  stuck  to  me  ever  since." 

My  gallery  would  indeed  be  incomplete  if  there 
were  omitted  from  it  the  portraits  of  persons  so  well 
known  and  justly  appreciated  half  a  century  ago  as 
Mr.  William  Holmes  and  Sir  Charles  Grant. 

Mr.  William  Holmes,  or,  as  he  was  more  generally 
called,  Billy  Holmes,  was  an  Irishman  whose  father, 
it  is  believed,  was  an  agent  on  one  or  more  of  the 
Beresford  estates,  and  who  himself  served,  when  a 
young  man,  both  in  the  militia  and  in  the  line. 
Good-looking,  active,  intelligent,  and  not  over- 
scrupulous, Billy  made  friends  for  himself  during 
the  rebellion  of  '98  among  the  leading  Protestant 


260      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

gentry.  He  soon  exchanged  the  sword  for  the 
agent's  desk,  and  through  the  influence  of  either 
the  Beresfords  or  the  Londonderrys,  obtained  a 
seat  in  Parliament.  His  ready  wit,  his  perpetual 
good-humour,  and  the  entire  absence  in  his  nature 
of  everything  approaching  to  shyness,  recommended 
him  for  the  post  of  whipper-in  to  his  party,  for  his 
services  in  which  capacity  he  was  rew^arded  by 
advancement  in  later  years  to  one  of  the  subor- 
dinate places  in  the  Board  of  Ordnance.  But 
Billy's  great  talent  lay  in  electioneering.  He 
knew,  or  was  supposed  to  know,  exactly  what 
price  the  owner  of  a  borough  would  accept ;  who 
was  the  fittest  person  to  be  recommended  to  him ; 
and  when  a  contest  arose  either  in  borough  or 
county,  how  it  ought  to  be  conducted.  If  you  had 
any  relish  for  stories  not  always  very  refined,  but 
undeniably  humorous,  you  might  search  far  and 
wide  without  meeting  with  a  more  agreeable  com- 
panion than  Billy.  To  see  him  at  a  dinner-table, 
surrounded  by  the  freemen,  say  of  Sandwich,  or 
passing  from  house  to  house  on  a  canvassing  tour, 
was  to  see  him  in  his  glory.  The  sourest  radical 
could  not  long  hold  out  against  the  broad  Irish  fun 
with  which  Holmes  assailed  him.  And  if  the 
coveted  vote  could  not  be  secured,  the  voter  in- 
variably went  away  less  rancorous  than  when  the 
two  men  encountered.  Billy  lost  his  place  in  the 
Ordnance  through  some  mistake  about  the  arrange- 
ment  of  a  line  of  railway   that  was   to    connect 


"CHIN  grant"  261 

London  with  Chatham.  A  charge  was  got  up 
against  him,  and  one  of  his  colleagues,  of  pro- 
moting a  job  by  which  the  public  interests  suffered. 
The  allegation  was  never  proved,  but  Billy  and  his 
friend  felt  themselves  bound  to  allay  the  storm  by 
resigning  their  places.  What  became  of  him  after 
the  Tory  party  went  to  pieces  I  do  not  know,  but 
both  as  a  political  partisan  and  a  fellow  of  infinite 
humour  in  private  life  he  stood  unrivalled. 

In  every  respect  different  from  Billy  Holmes, 
though  they  were  somehow  usually  classed  to- 
gether, was  Sir  Alexander  Grant,  Bart.,  more 
commonly  recognised  among  his  friends  and 
acquaintances  as  "  Chin  Grant."  Heavy  in  hand 
as  a  companion,  incapable  of  putting  half-a-dozen 
sentences  together  either  on  the  hustings  or  in  the 
House  of  Commons,  it  seems  impossible  that  Grant 
could  ever  have  served  his  party  except  by  steady 
voting.  A  West  Indian  proprietor,  he  was  at  one 
time  rich,  and  spent  his  money  freely  in  electioneer- 
ing. But  the  Reform  Act  shut  the  door  of  the 
House  of  Commons  against  him,  and  the  Slave 
Emancipation  measure  subsequently  passed  re- 
duced him,  as  it  did  many  others,  to  comparative 
indigence.  Grant  was  an  accomplished  "  gourmet." 
On  the  establishment  of  the  Carlton  Club  he  be- 
came a  member  of  the  Committee,  and  it  is  due  to 
him  to  add  that  under  his  management  the  Carlton 
held  its  own,  even  against  the  skill  of  the  famous 
artiste  at  the  Reform.     Grant  himself  lived  much 


262      REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

at  that  place  of  refuge  for  struggling  Tories,  and  it 
is  ludicrous  to  observe  the  adroitness  with  which 
he  generally  contrived  to  place  himself  on  one  side 
or  the  other  of  the  Premier  in  petto.  Grant's 
patience  under  privations  and  faithful  adherence  to 
party  were  not  overlooked  when  Peel  succeeded  at 
last  in  forming  a  stable  government.  He  became  a 
commissioner  of  customs  and  spent  the  last  years  of 
his  life  in  comparative  comfort. 

Casual  Visitors 

The  Duke's  hospitalities  were  more  promiscuous, 
so  to  speak,  at  Walmer  than  at  Stratfieldsaye. 
Those  whom  you  met  at  the  latter  place  were,  with 
very  few  exceptions,  what  may  be  called  house 
visitors,  like  yourself, — in  other  words  ladies  and 
gentlemen  invited  to  spend  a  day  or  two  with  their 
host,  and,  at  the  close  of  the  appointed  time,  disap- 
pearing. At  Walmer  his  invitations  were  extended 
to  the  captains  of  Deal  and  Dover  Castles,  to  the 
ofificers  of  the  garrisons  of  both  places,  and  to 
admirals  and  post-captains,  most  of  them  retired, 
who  resided  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  to  one  or 
two  gentlemen  with  whom  accident  brought  him 
acquainted.  He  never,  as  far  as  I  know,  dined  out 
of  his  own  house  during  the  twelve  years  of  my 
residence  at  Ash,  except  twice — once  with  myself, 
when  he  did  me  the  honour  to  stand  godfather  for 
a   boy  who  died   in   infancy,   and   once  with  Mr. 


LORD   CARRINGTON  263 

Morris  of  Betshanger,  whose  acquaintance  he 
formed  at  my  table.  His  reception  of  these  casual 
visitors  was  always  as  cordial  as  if  they  had  been  of 
the  number  of  his  intimates,  and  intimates,  in  one 
sense  of  the  term,  some  of  them  became.  The  late 
Lord  Stanhope  was  one  of  these,  of  whom,  how- 
ever, I  will  say  nothing  here,  as  I  have  reserved  for 
him  a  distinct  place  among  the  Duke's  contempor- 
aries. But  of  his  good  old  grandfather,  Lord 
Carrington,  in  those  days  Captain  of  Deal  Castle, 
just  so  much  notice  may  be  taken  as  tends  to  illus- 
trate one  part  in  the  very  manifold  social  character 
of  the  great  Duke. 

Lord  Carrington,  formerly  Mr.  Smith,  the  head 
of  the  great  banking  house  of  Smith,  Payne,  & 
Smith,  had  been  a  steady  supporter  of  Mr.  Pitt's 
administration,  and  was  rewarded  by  this  great 
minister  for  that  and  other  services  by  being  ele- 
vated to  the  peerage.  From  Mr.  Pitt  likewise  he 
received  the  appointment  which  he  still  held,  and 
regularly  as  the  autumn  set  in  he  took  up  his  abode 
in  the  comfortable  marine  residence  which  went 
with  it.  He  was,  and  had  long  been,  a  widower 
when  I  first  became  acquainted  with  him.  His  son 
— or  sons — (for  I  do  not  know  how  many  he  had), 
were  themselves  heads  of  families ;  and  of  his 
daughters  one  was  married  to  Earl  Stanhope,  the 
other  to  Lord  Grenville  Somerset.  Lady  Stan- 
hope, with  her  son,  Lord  Mahon,  generally  came 
with  the  old  lord  to  Deal  and  kept  house  for  him, 


264      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

and  were  frequent  and  welcome  additions  to  the 
Duke's  dinner  parties. 

At  the  time  of  which  I  speak  Lord  Carrington 
must  have  been  upwards  of  eighty  years  of  age. 
The  devotion  which  in  his  youth  he  had  rendered 
to  Pitt,  he  transferred  in  his  old  age  to  the  Duke. 
The  Duke,  when  at  Walmer,  made  a  point  of 
dressing  for  dinner  in  the  Cinque  Ports  uniform, 
i.e.  a  blue  coat  with  scarlet  cuffs  and  collar,  and 
buttons  showing  the  Cinque  Port  arms.  Lord 
Carrington  adopted  the  same  custom,  and  went 
beyond  it,  for  he  never  called  on  the  Lord  Warden 
of  a  morning  except  thus  arrayed,  and  always  went 
to  church  in  what  he  called  his  uniform.  In  every 
respect,  besides,  he  tried  to  make  the  Duke  his 
model,  and  to  an  extent  which  led  on  one  occasion 
to  a  ludicrous  denouement. 

There  is  a  small  dockyard  at  Deal  which  was  in 
those  days  superintended  by  a  post-captain.  This 
gentleman,  in  reality  a  staunch  Conservative,  hap- 
pened to  say  something  one  day  when  calling  at 
Deal  Castle,  which  the  noble  castellan  accepted  as 
if  it  conveyed  a  censure  on  the  Duke.  The  old  Lord 
fired  up,  made  use  of  strong  language,  and  sent  his 
guest  away,  not  offended,  but  annoyed  that  his 
meaning  should  have  been  entirely  misunderstood. 
He  wrote  a  stiff,  but  not  unfriendly,  note,  pointing 
out  that  Lord  Carrington  had  done  him  an  injustice, 
and  sent  it  to  the  castle.  Now  the  duel  between 
the  Duke  and  Lord  Winchilsea  was  still  fresh  in 


BILLY   HOLMES*   JOKE  265 

men's  minds ;  and  Lord  Carrington  appeared  to 
think  that  a  good  opportunity  had  presented  itself 
of  proving  that  he  at  least  took  the  same  view  of 
the  single  combat  that  had  been  expressed  in  the 
Duke's  memorable  letter.  He  accordingly  answered 
Captain  Vincent's  note  by  announcing  that  he  was 
quite  ready  to  render  to  him  that  satisfaction  which 
every  gentleman  had  a  right  to  demand,  and  no 
gentleman  could  refuse  to  give.  This  done,  he 
posted  off  to  Walmer  Castle,  where,  the  Duke 
being  engaged,  he  saw  Billy  Holmes,  and  unfolded 
to  him  his  case,  with  all  the  circumstances  attend- 
ing it.  He  could  not  have  put  the  matter  into 
better  hands.  Billy,  though  intensely  amused, 
put  on  a  grave  face  and  discussed  the  question  of 
seconds.  It  would  hardly  do  to  ask  the  Duke's 
co-operation  in  an  affair  of  the  kind.  He  himself 
was  out  of  the  question,  but  he  would  consult  the 
Duke  as  soon  as  he  could  be  seen,  and  communicate 
to  Lord  Carrington  the  result  of  their  conversation. 
"  I  was  thinking  of  Hardinge,"  said  the  old  Lord  ; 
"he  managed  the  Duke's  affair  admirably."  "A 
good  thought,"  replied  Holmes,  looking  as  grave  as 
a  judge.  "  But  had  we  not  better  see  what  the 
Duke  says  to  it  before  communicating  with  Plar- 
dinge  ? "  This  was  agreed  to,  and  Lord  Carrington 
took  his  leave. 

The  Duke  roared  when  Holmes  told  him  the 
story,  and  carried  on  the  joke  so  far  that  he  com- 
missioned Billy  to  convey  a  message  for  him  to  the 


266      REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

effect  that,  Captain  Vincent  being  a  Conservative, 
it  would  appear  to  the  enemy  as  if  there  were 
divisions  in  the  camp,  if  two  such  good  men  and 
brave  as  he  and  Lord  Carrington  were  to  fight  a 
duel.  The  message  was  duly  conveyed  to  Deal 
Castle,  and  the  old  Lord,  fully  satisfied  that  he  had 
acted  like  a  man  of  spirit,  yielded  to  the  reasoning 
of  his  political  chief,  and  did  not  invite  Sir  Henry 
Hardinge  to  go  out  with  him  as  his  second. 

Another  story  connected  with  this  good  old  Lord 
may  be  worth  repeating,  as  illustrative  of  the  keen 
sense  of  the  ludicrous  which  was  one  of  the  Duke's 
characteristics. 

Lord  Carrington  was  considerably  past  eighty 
when  a  buxom  widow,  the  relict  of  a  deceased 
archdeacon,  cast  a  spell  over  him.  He  proposed 
and  was  accepted,  and  in  due  time  Lady  Carrington 
the  second  arrived  at  Deal  Castle  and  took  her 
place  at  the  head  of  the  table.  Marriages  of  this 
sort  are  not  usually  agreeable  to  the  bridegroom's 
family,  and  though  there  is  nothing  to  show  that 
in  this  instance  the  ordinary  course  of  events  was 
departed  from,  there  is  as  little  to  prove  that  open 
war  between  the  old  and  the  new  connection  was 
declared.  On  the  contrary,  the  new  wife  would 
seem  to  have  played  into  her  step-daughter's  hands 
more  vehemently  than  was  judicious,  of  which  the 
consequences,  though  the  cause  of  some  mirth  to 
others,  were  to  her  very  serious. 

Lady  Stanhope   proposed   to   give  a  ball — sent 


LADY   STANHOPE  267 

out  her  invitations  far  and  wide  against  a  certain 
evening.  It  happened  that  two  days  prior  to  that 
for  which  the  ball  was  fixed,  Lord  Carrington's 
brother,  who  had  long  been  ailing,  died — I  think 
in  London.  What  was  to  be  done?  There  was 
time,  no  doubt,  to  put  off  the  entertainment  so  far 
as  the  invited  guests  were  concerned,  but  all  the 
other  preparations  were  complete,  and  for  some 
reason,  best  known  to  herself,  Lady  Stanhope  had 
set  her  heart  on  getting  this  party  together.  To 
postpone  the  gathering  under  existing  circum- 
stances would  be  tantamount  to  an  entire  abandon- 
ment of  the  affair,  and  to  that  the  noble  founder  of 
the  feast  was  decidedly  averse.  A  council  of  war 
was  in  consequence  held,  in  which  Lady  Carrington 
took  part,  and  it  was  agreed  that  the  old  Lord 
should  be  kept  in  ignorance  of  his  brother's  death 
till  the  festivities  were  over.  So  far  as  this  ball  was 
concerned  all  went  well.  The  company  assembled. 
The  good  old  Lord  gave  them  a  hearty  reception, 
and  Deal  Castle  rang  with  the  voice  of  music  and 
flirtation.  But  the  morrow  came,  and  with  it  a 
terrible  retribution.  Lord  Carrington  was  furious 
at  the  outrage — for  such  it  was — that  had  been  put 
upon  him ;  and  laying  all  the  blame  on  his  wife, 
ordered  her  instantly  to  quit  the  house.  She 
refused,  as  might  have  been  expected,  whereupon, 
recollecting  that,  as  Captain  of  Deal  Castle,  he 
owed  some  sort  of  military  obedience  to  the  Lord 
Warden,  the  old  Lord  despatched  a  messenger  with 


268       REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

an  official  packet  desiring  that  it  might  be  put  into 
the  Duke's  hands  without  delay.  All  was  done 
according  to  orders.  We  were  at  dinner  when  the 
packet,  marked  O.  H.  M.  S.,  was  delivered  to  the 
Duke ;  and  he,  taking  for  granted  that  its  contents 
must  be  important,  opened  and  read  it.  He  made 
a  great  effort  to  retain  his  gravity  but  did  not  suc- 
ceed, he  was  obliged  to  laugh  aloud.  The  despatch 
requested  a  reply  to  two  questions: — 1st,  Whether 
Deal  Castle  was  or  was  not  a  fortress ;  and  2nd, 
Whether  he,  as  Governor,  had,  or  had  not,  a  right 
to  expel  by  force,  if  necessary,  any  person  whose 
presence  within  the  walls  he  might  consider  un- 
desirable. There  had  been  rumours  afloat  of  domestic 
differences  in  that  quarter,  and  the  Duke,  guessing 
to  what  end  the  query  pointed,  so  framed  his 
answer  as  to  meet  the  case. 

"Certainly  Deal  Castle  was  a  fortress;  it  rested 
with  the  Captain,  as  Governor,  to  admit  or  refuse 
admittance  to  whom  he  would.  In  the  event  also 
of  a  siege,  or  the  apprehension  of  a  siege,  he  had 
a  perfect  right  to  expel  any  inmate  whose  fidelity 
he  distrusted  ;  but  he  (the  Duke)  would  not  advise 
too  rigid  an  exercise  of  these  powers  unless  upon 
trustworthy  evidence  that  the  safety  of  the  place 
might  otherwise  be  compromised."  The  official  reply 
to  the  official  despatch  had  the  desired  effect.  The 
lady  was  not  summarily  dismissed,  but  she  with- 
drew from  the  castle  a  day  or  two  afterwards,  and 
never  entered  it  again. 


BOOK    III 

THE  DUKE  IX   HIS  DOMESTIC  RELATIONS 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  DUKE   IN   HIS  DOMESTIC  RELATIONS 

The  Duke  was  not  very  happy  at  any  period  of 
his  life  in  his  domestic  relations.  Of  his  father 
he  saw  little,  for  Lord  Mornington  died  while  his 
children  were  young,  and  with  his  mother  he  was 
never  a  favourite.  The  financial  condition  of  the 
family  was  moreover  straitened,  and  their  home  in 
consequence  by  no  means  attractive  to  its  younger 
members.  Even  among  the  brothers  there  seems 
to  have  been  no  very  warm  love  one  for  the  other. 
In  after  life,  no  doubt,  they  drew  more  closely 
together,  impelled  thereto  rather  by  pride  of  race, 
perhaps,  than  by  natural  affection.  But  in  boyhood 
little  intercourse  took  place  among  them,  none 
indeed  of  which  any  record  has  been  preserved. 
How  far  these  circumstances  may  have  created  or 
fostered  that  dreaminess  of  temperament  for  which 
the  Duke  was  remarkable  at  Eton,  it  is  not  worth 
while  to  inquire.  Enough  it  is  to  know  that,  being 
coldly  looked  upon  at  home  and  treated  as  a  dull 
boy,  the  Duke  learnt  to  think  himself  dull,  and 
shunning  rather  than  seeking  the  companionship  of 


272       REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE   OF    WELLINGTON 

his  schoolfellows,  formed  no  early  friendships  with 
any  of  them. 

It  cannot  be  said  that  marriage,  which,  for  most 
men,  proves  a  turning  point  in  life,  had  any  effect 
in  changing  the  Duke's  habits  either  of  thought  or 
action.  Not  that  he  was  deficient  in  any  of  those 
qualities  of  heart  and  mind  which  fit  a  man  to 
become  a  loving  husband  and  father.  On  the  con- 
trary, there  never  lived  a  public  man  in  whom 
the  yearning  for  sympathy  was  stronger,  and  who, 
had  he  found  it  beside  his  own  fireside,  would  have 
cared  less  to  seek  it  elsewhere.  But  he  did  not 
find  it  there,  and  the  consequence  was  a  long  life 
of  brilliant  success  and  well  earned  honour,  of 
which  he  was  heard  over  and  over  again  to  say 
that  it  was  not  worth  living  for. 

Many  causes  have  been  assigned  for  this.  The 
true  one  was,  I  believe,  as  follows  : — 

The  Duke,  when  a  very  young  man,  fell  in 
love  with  Lady  Catharine  Pakenham,  one  of  the 
daughters  of  the  Earl  of  Longford.  He  was  at 
that  time  a  Captain  of  Cavalry  and  aide-de-camp  to 
the  Lord-Lieutenant  of  Ireland,  with  little  besides 
his  pay  on  which  to  subsist,  and  without  any 
immediate  prospect  of  bettering  his  condition.  The 
lady's  father,  regarding  the  match  as  undesirable, 
refused  his  consent,  and  the  young  people  separated 
without  any  direct  pledge  of  constancy  from  either 
side,  but  with  the  tacit  understanding  that  both 
would  wait  for  better  times.     It  was  probably  in 


LADY    CATHARINE    PAKENHAM  273 

the  hope  of  realising  this  vision  that  the  Duke, 
on  his  return  from  the  war  in  the  Low  Countries, 
besought  his  brother  to  apply,  in  his  behalf,  for 
a  commissionership  of  Customs.  Fortunately  for 
Europe,  the  application,  if  made,  proved  unsuccessful, 
and,  as  Colonel  Wellesley, the  Duke  followed  his  regi- 
ment, with  which,  in  due  course,  he  landed  in  India. 
How  the  Duke  spent  the  interval  between  1797 
and  1806,1  have  told  at  length  elsewhere.  Whether 
any  written  communication  had  or  had  not  passed 
between  the  lovers  all  this  while  is  uncertain. 
The  probabilities  are  that  they  had  not ;  because 
Lord  Longford  could  not,  under  the  circumstances, 
sanction  such  a  proceeding,  and  the  Duke's  sense 
of  honour  was  too  keen  to  permit  his  embarking  on 
a  clandestine  correspondence  with  any  one.  Hence 
we  bring  no  serious  charge  against  either  party  if 
we  assume  that  an  absence  so  protracted  may  have 
produced  its  not  uncommon  effect,  in  so  far  at  least 
as  to  render  one  or  both  indifferent  as  to  whether 
the  dream  of  other  days  was  to  be  dreamt  over 
again  or  not.  Be  this  as  it  may,  the  wooer  of  ten 
years  ago  presented  himself  in  an  entirely  new 
aspect  when  he  appeared  in  Dublin  as  the  hero  of 
Assaye  and  Secretary  of  the  Lord-Lieutenant  of 
Ireland.  When,  therefore,  he  renewed  the  offer 
of  his  hand  the  offer  was  accepted,  both  by  father 
and  daughter,  and  in  a  short  time  the  marriage 
took  place,  much,  as  it  appeared,  to  the  satisfaction 
of  all  concerned. 


274       REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

There  was,  however,  one  party  to  that  transaction 
whom  a  discovery,  made  too  late,  deeply  wounded. 
Lady  Catharine,  it  came  out,  had,  before  the  Duke's 
arrival,  been  engaged  to  another  suitor  and  had 
broken  the  engagement  in  order  to  become  Lady 
Wellesley.  There  was  nothing  really  wrong  in  this 
second  engagement  looked  at  as  a  thing  apart,  nor 
in  the  lady's  extricating  herself  from  it,  if  only  she 
had  adopted  the  proper  means  of  doing  so.  These 
were  obvious  enough.  When  the  Duke  proposed  a 
second  time,  she  ought  to  have  told  him  how  she 
was  circumstanced,  not  concealing  her  preference 
for  her  old  lover  if  she  retained  it,  but  leaving  him 
to  decide  whether  or  no  the  fresh  engagement 
should  be  held  binding.  This,  unfortunately,  she 
failed  to  do,  and  the  Duke,  to  whom  the  story  was 
told  in  a  spirit  by  no  means  friendly  to  the  poor 
lady,  received  the  impression  that  he  had  been 
grossly  deceived,  and  never  afterwards  got  rid 
of  it. 

The  Duke  was  not  one  who  readily  forgave  in- 
juries, particularly  if  there  were  involved  in  them  a 
deviation  from  truth.  There  was,  however,  much 
chivalry  in  his  nature,  and  this  first  slip  might 
have  been  got  over,  had  the  lady  shown  herself 
more  capable  than  she  subsequently  did  of  entering 
into  his  views  of  things  and  sharing  his  anxieties. 
It  was  a  great  misfortune  for  both  that  she  utterly 
failed  in  this  respect.  Very  amiable,  very  religious, 
entertaining  for  her  husband  unbounded  admira- 


THE   DUCHESS   OF   WELLINGTON  275 

tion,  she  could  not  bring  herself  to  take  the  slightest 
interest  in  the  subjects  which  mainly  engrossed 
his  attention.  Even  in  the  smallest  matters  their 
tastes  seldom  agreed,  and  she  had  a  habit  of  ad- 
miring him  in  public  which  was  as  little  agree- 
able to  him  as  Mrs.  Disraeli's  open  worship  of  her 
husband  sometimes  appeared  to  be  to  the  late  Prime 
Minister.  Not  that  the  Duke  had  any  objection 
more  than  other  great  men  to  receive  the  homage 
of  all  who  approached  him,  and  especially  of  women  ; 
but  such  homage  pleased  in  proportion  as  it  was 
delicately  administered.  It  became  intolerable 
when  administered  wholesale,  whether  by  a  stranger 
or  a  member  of  his  own  family.  But  worst  of  all 
in  his  eyes  was  her  excessive  timidity,  hurrying 
her  occasionally  into  deceit.  One  instance  may 
suffice  to  illustrate  what  I  mean. 

When  the  Duke  took  the  command  of  the  army 
in  Portugal,  he  made  arrangements  for  the  comfort- 
able maintenance  of  his  family  during  an  absence 
from  home  which  he  anticipated  would  be  pro- 
tracted. He  took  a  house  for  them  in  Hamilton 
Place  and  settled  on  the  Duchess  such  an  income 
as  he  believed  to  be  more  than  sufficient  to  meet 
all  their  wants.  At  the  same  time  he  received 
from  her  an  assurance  that  she  would  never  incur 
debts  (of  debts  he  had  always  a  horror)  and  that 
in  the  event  of  her  finding  the  allowance  inadequate, 
she  would  let  him  know  in  order  that  an  addition 
might  be  made  to  it. 


276      REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

Wives  who  stand  in  awe  of  their  husbands,  as 
is  sometimes  the  case  when  there  is  little  sympathy 
between  them,  are  prone  to  hide  from  them  what 
had  better  be  disclosed.  The  Duchess  failed  to 
make  the  two  ends  of  her  annuity  meet,  and  failed 
also  to  state  the  fact  to  the  Duke.  The  consequence 
was  an  accumulation  of  debt,  of  which  the  Duke 
knew  nothing  till  after  his  return  at  the  close  of 
the  war.  Had  the  relation  in  which  they  person- 
ally stood  to  one  another  been  different  from  what 
it  was,  even  this  breach  of  confidence,  though  a 
serious  one,  might  have  been  condoned ;  but  the 
payment  of  a  large  sum  to  tradesmen  on  which  he 
had  not  counted  gave  additional  bitterness  to  the 
reflection  that  she  whom  he  had  chosen  to  be  the 
companion  of  his  life  was  a  failure.  Now  the 
Duke,  like  most  men  on  whom  the  calls  of  pubHc 
duty,  or  the  necessity  of  providing  by  hard  work 
for  the  needs  of  those  dependent  on  them,  keep 
the  mind  much  upon  the  stretch,  yearned  for  what 
he  could  not  find  at  home  ;  and  yielding  to  a  natural 
impulse  sought  it  abroad.  There  was  scarcely  a 
gifted  woman  in  England  whom  an  instinctive 
knowledge  of  how  the  land  lay  elsewhere,  did  not 
impel  to  offer  to  him  that  of  which  he  stood  in 
need,  and  one  at  least,  as  has  elsewhere  been 
shown,  attained  the  desired  end,  and  kept  it  till 
the  day  of  her  death.  But  however  innocent  in 
themselves  such  intimacies  may  be,  they  almost 
necessarily  come  between  a  man  and  his  domesticity, 


AN    UNFOUNDED    BELIEF  277 

and  for  this  very  reason  fulfil  their  purpose  im- 
perfectly. They  may  refresh  from  time  to  time 
the  spirit  wearied  and  ill  at  ease,  but  they  alienate 
the  man  himself  more  and  more  from  those  whose 
natural  claims  on  his  affection  ought  to  be  the 
strongest.  Again  let  me  guard  myself  against 
being  misunderstood.  The  vulgar  belief  concerning 
the  Duke  is  that  he  was  a  profligate  among  women. 
Never  was  vulgar  belief  more  unfounded.  His 
physical  temperament  was  cold  rather  than  severe. 
He  may  have  erred  in  youth,  as  others  have  done, 
when  exposed  to  strong  temptation.  But  his  lady 
friends  were  to  him  friends  only — at  all  events 
during  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  as  well  as  previously 
to  the  death  of  the  Duchess,  and  after  that  event 
left  him  free  to  contract  a  second  marriacje  had  he 
been  so  disposed. 

The  inevitable  effect  of  the  Duke's  dislike  to  the 
society  of  the  Duchess  was  to  make  him,  if  not  an 
unkind,  at  all  events  an  undemonstrative  father. 
Though  fond  of  his  sons  in  his  own  way,  he  never, 
as  far  as  I  know,  played  with  them  in  their  child- 
hood or  made  them  his  companions  after  they  grew 
up.  He  was  indeed  most  anxious  that  they  should 
not  suffer,  as  he  often  said  that  he  himself  had 
done,  from  an  imperfect  education,  but  he  made  no 
attempt  himself  to  enlarge  their  minds,  and  the 
gentleman  to  whose  care  as  private  tutor  he 
entrusted  them  seems  to  have  failed  in  working  on 
their  affections,  and  through  them  acting  at  once 


278       REMINISCENCES   OF    DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

on  their  intellectual  and  moral  nature.  Nobody 
who  knew  the  late  Vicar  of  Brighton  will  challenge 
either  his  scholarship  or  his  high  character,  but  a 
man  may  be  both  a  scholar  and  the  best  of  men, 
yet  lack  some  of  the  qualities  which  are  needed  in 
a  private  tutor.  In  this  case  the  error  seems  to 
have  been  an  exaggerated  notion  of  discipline,  of 
which  the  effect  was  to  make  his  pupils  cordially 
detest  him. 

The  Duke  was  often  consulted  by  parents  and 
guardians  as  to  the  sort  of  training  which  boys 
ought  to  go  through  in  order  to  fit  them  for  the 
army.  His  answer  was  in  every  case  the  same. 
"  Give  your  son  the  best  education  England  can 
aflford.  Send  him  to  a  public  school  or  to  one  of 
the  universities.  In  this  country  an  officer  must 
be  something  more  than  a  fighting  machine,  and 
should  therefore  acquire  such  knowledge  and  habits 
of  thought  as  shall  qualify  him  to  fill,  with  credit 
to  himself  and  benefit  to  the  public,  such  a  post  as 
governor  of  a  colony  and  to  act,  if  called  upon  to 
do  so,  as  a  magistrate."  And  on  the  advice  he 
gave  to  others,  he  himself  acted.  His  sons  went  to 
Ebon,  their  tutor  being  still  retained  to  aid  them 
in  their  studies,  and  that  they  did  not  fail  to  make 
good  use  of  their  time  I  have  shown  elsewhere. 
They  proceeded  next  to  Oxford,  where  they  were 
entered  at  Christ  Church  ;  the  eldest  as  a  nobleman, 
the  youngest  as  a  gentleman  commoner;  and  at  the 
same  time   half-pay  commissions   were   purchased 


students'  escapade  279 

for  both — a  mode  of  connecting  youths  with  the 
military  service,  not  then  uncommon,  but  long  since 
abolished. 

It  is  well  known  that  after  a  while  the  Duke 
withdrew  his  sons  from  Oxford  and  sent  them  to 
complete  their  educational  course  at  Cambridge, 
The  reasons  which  induced  him  to  take  this  step 
have  never  been  fairly  stated,  and  censure  has 
accordingly  been  meted  out  in  a  wrong  direction. 
These  are  the  details  of  the  case. 

Lord  Douro  on  a  certain  occasion  had  a  wine 
party  in  his  rooms,  including  Lord  Charles  and 
others  of  his  friends.  No  doubt  the  young  men,  as 
in  those  days  was  customary,  drank  a  little  more 
than  was  good  for  them  ;  and  under  the  influence  of 
wine,  a  suggestion  was  made  that  it  would  be  a 
flne  thing  to  go  out  into  the  town  in  defiance  of 
college  rules  and  closed  gates.  No  ulterior  object 
was  contemplated.  What  was  proposed  to  be  done 
was  to  be  done  as  a  lark ;  for  they  who  undertook 
the  perilous  enterprise  were  pledged  to  return  and 
explain  how  it  had  been  achieved.  Lord  Douro 
himself  did  not  join  the  forlorn  hope,  though 
whether  he  entered  any  protest  against  the  pro- 
ceeding is  uncertain.  His  brother.  Lord  Charles, 
did.  The  little  band  ran  downstairs — made  for 
the  lodge,  and  called  aloud  upon  the  porter.  To 
open  the  wicket  and  let  themselves  out  was  the 
work  of  a  moment.  To  and  fro  they  paced  for  a 
few  minutes  in  the  street,  rejoicing  in  the  success 


280      REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

of  their  manoeuvres.  They  had,  however,  committed 
a  great  mistake  in  neglecting  to  take  the  key  of 
the  wicket  with  them.  They  suffered  for  it.  The 
porter,  who  recognised  their  voices,  had  no  difficulty 
in  getting  through  the  window  and  immediately 
turned  the  key  in  the  lock.  For  them  there  was 
no  return  except  at  his  pleasure.  And  he  did  not 
fail  on  admitting  them  to  charge  them  with  what 
they  had  done.  At  which  they  only  laughed.  It 
proved,  however,  to  be  no  laughing  matter.  The 
outrage,  for  so  it  was  termed,  being  reported  to  the 
Dean,  he  sent  next  morning  to  the  delinquents,  and 
having  ascertained  from  them  where  they  had  spent 
the  evening,  he  proceeded,  in  a  way  peculiar  to 
himself,  to  vindicate  the  outraged  honour  of  the 
College.  Lord  Charles  and  his  associates  had 
impositions  set  them.  Lord  Douro,  because  it  was 
taken  for  granted  that  the  escapade,  if  not  suggested 
by  him,  had  been  planned  at  his  table,  was  rusticated 
for  what  remained  of  the  current  term.  The  Duke, 
as  was  natural,  was  both  surprised  and  indignant 
at  the  proceeding.  He  wrote  to  the  Dean  a  well- 
considered  letter,  pointing  out  that  Lord  Douro  had 
been  guilty  of  no  offence  whatever,  and  begging  the 
Dean  to  reconsider  his  judgment,  so  far  as  to  cancel 
the  sentence  of  rustication  upon  an  innocent  man. 
He  received  in  due  course  an  answer  as  unbecoming 
as  it  was  illogical.  "  The  Dean  begged  to  assure 
His  Grace  that  though  he  might  be  master  of  the 
art  of  commanding  armies,  he  was  no  judge  of  how 


THE    DUKES   SONS  281 

discipline  must  be  maintained  in  a  college."  Such 
was  the  nature  of  the  provocation  which  led  the 
Duke  to  transfer  his  sons  from  Oxford  to  Cambridge. 
Having  completed  there  a  short  academical  course, 
they  were  placed  upon  full  pay,  first  as  cornets  in 
the  Blues,  and  by-and-by  as  lieutenants,  one  in 
the  GOth,  the  other  in  the  Kifle  Brigade.  Lord 
Douro  subsequently  exchanged  into  the  Rifle 
Brigade  and  Lord  Charles  into  the  15  th  Foot. 
When  the  former  retired  from  the  service  he  had 
attained  the  rank  of  lieutenant-general.  The  latter, 
after  commanding  a  battalion  some  years,  became 
a  major-general  and  died,  leaving  a  widow  and  two 
sons  and  three  daughters. 


CHAPTER    II 

SOME   OF  THE   DUKe's   SPECIAL  CHARACTERISTICS 

If  ever  it  could  be  said  of  a  man,  distinguished 
among  his  fellows,  that  he  educated  himself,  the 
aphorism  holds  good  in  the  case  of  the  Duke  of 
Wellington.  We  have  seen  that  as  a  boy  he  was 
held  to  be  the  dunce  of  the  family,  and  we  know 
that  at  Eton  he  made  no  figure.  As  he  never 
spoke  of  Angers,  it  is  fair  to  conclude  that  the  one 
accomplishment  he  mastered  there  was  the  ac- 
quisition of  the  French  language.  His  early 
association  with  the  leaders  of  men  doubtless 
stimulated  into  action  faculties  which,  had  his 
lot  been  cast  in  a  different  mould,  might  have 
remained  dormant  to  the  end.  But  the  channels 
into  which  they  were  directed  carried  them,  so  to 
speak,  from  common  things,  leaving  him  master  in 
the  art  of  controlling  courts  and  armies,  and  in 
minor  matters  of  daily  life  ignorant  as  a  child. 
Though  spending  much  of  his  time  in  the  country, 
he  never  learned  the  very  rudiments  of  farming. 
Arbuthnot  used  to  tell  a  story  illustrative  of  this 
fact  which  seems  almost  too  absurd  to  be  credible. 


HIS    LOVE   OF   MUSIC  283 

Riding  through  a  field  of  turnips  one  day,  the  Duke 
asked  him  how  the  vegetables  propagated,  whether 
by  seed,  or  by  cuttings,  like  the  potato.  His 
acquaintance  with  the  literature  of  his  own  country 
was  very  limited.  Though  he  read  several  foreign 
languages,  and  wrote  two  of  them  with  tolerable 
accuracy,  he  had  no  acquaintance  whatever  with 
the  writings  of  the  master  spirits  in  any  of  them. 
As  life  had  been  to  him  a  drama  in  which  living 
men  played  their  part,  so  in  his  retirement,  history, 
which  tells  how  bygone  generations  schemed  and 
acted,  monopolised  his  attention.  For  poetry  he 
had  no  taste,  and  not  much  for  prose  writing  of 
fiction.  As  to  physical  science,  that,  in  all  its 
branches,  was  a  sealed  book  to  him.  On  the  other 
hand,  he  was  devoted  to  music,  and  at  one  time 
played  the  violin  with  considerable  execution,  but 
even  in  music  his  taste  was  antiquated.  A  generous 
patron  of  the  classical  concerts,  he  cared  very  little 
for  any  compositions  more  recent  than  those  of 
Mozart,  and  preferred  pieces  by  Handel  and  even 
by  Corelli  to  the  best  modern  composers  could 
produce. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  Duke  as  being  in  the  little 
matters  of  private  life  as  ignorant  as  a  child.  One 
exception  must  be  made  to  this  rule  ;  it  is  a  house- 
keeping one.  The  man  whose  solvency  depends 
upon  keeping  a  steady  eye  on  his  household  expenses 
could  not  be  more  careful  or  better  acquainted  with 
the  details  of  his  menage  than  the  Duke.     Having 


284       REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

once  suffered  from  the  roguery  of  an  upper  servant, 
he  never  again  entrusted  the  payment  of  his  bills  to 
any  hand  except  his  own,  and  kept  his  cellar  low,  as 
has  elsewhere  been  stated,  in  order  that  his  wine 
account,  like  his  accounts  with  butcher,  baker,  and 
coal  merchant,  should  always  be  of  short  standing. 

Though  the  Duke  rose  early,  you  never  saw  him 
on  ordinary  occasions  till  breakfast  was  served  at 
ten  o'clock.  A  great  economist  of  time,  he  made 
short  work  of  this  meal,  and  returned  immediately 
to  his  own  room,  which  both  at  Stratfieldsaye  and 
Walmer  Castle  served  the  double  purpose  of  sleep- 
ing chamber  and  study.  Of  the  narrow  camp  bed  on 
which  he  slept  at  Walmer  and  the  sofa  which  at 
Stratfieldsaye  did  duty  as  a  couch  I  have  else- 
where spoken,  as  well  as  of  the  volumes  which 
stood  nearest  to  him  in  the  shelves.  Here  I  may 
venture  to  add,  that  one  of  them,  his  Book  of 
Common  Prayer,  has,  through  the  kindness  of  his 
son,  come  into  my  possession,  and  that  I  prize  it 
greatly.  At  two  o'clock  luncheon  might  or  might 
not,  according  to  the  amount  of  business  to  be 
transacted,  bring  him  forth  again  ;  but  it  rarely 
happened,  at  all  events  in  the  country,  that  he 
failed  in  the  afternoon  to  take  his  exercise,  some- 
times on  horseback,  sometimes  in  an  open  carriage, 
and  sometimes,  if  the  weather  were  broken,  on  foot. 
After  he  had  ceased  to  be  Prime  Minister,  and  the 
battle  of  Reform  was  fought  out,  the  Duke  seldom 
failed  to  interrupt  this  routine  order  of  existence. 


HIS    LOVE   OF    HUNTING  285 

In  Kent  a  pack  of  harriers  gave  him  great  amuse- 
ment. In  Hampshire  he  hunted  regularly  with 
both  Sir  John  Cope  and  the  Vine  hounds,  con- 
tributing largely  to  their  maintenance.  And  here 
he  exhibited  the  same  faculty  in  losing  his  way 
for  which  he  was  noted  in  the  Peninsula  after 
makint;  an  extensive  reconaissance. 

The  Duke  was  never  more  agreeable  than  when 
you  found  yourself  alone  with  him  at  Walmer 
Castle.  Throughout  the  early  part  of  the  day  he 
left  you  to  your  own  devices.  When  the  hour  for 
exercise  came  round  he  told  you  what  he  proposed 
to  do,  and  invited  you  to  join  him.  The  invitac^ion, 
as  may  well  be  believed,  was  never  declined.  Let 
me  describe  the  details  of  one  such  proceeding.  It 
is  a  clear  bracing  day  in  November,  with  just  as 
much  of  frost  in  the  air  as  to  make  the  covering  of 
a  cloak  in  an  open  carriage  agreeable.  The  roads 
are  in  the  best  order,  and  the  proposal  is  to  visit 
Ramsgate,  a  point  distant  from  Walmer  about  nine 
miles.  The  carriage  is  a  two-horsed  phaeton,  which 
the  Duke  drives,  taking  his  seat  on  the  left  because 
of  deafness  in  that  ear,  thus  turning  his  better  ear 
to  you.  I  have  elsewhere  mentioned  that  the 
Duke's  seat  on  horseback  was  loose,  and  that  he 
■was  somewhat  of  a  careless  rider.  His  driving  was 
of  the  same  order,  but  in  whatever  respect  it  might 
fall  short  of  excellence,  it  never  failed  to  carry  you 
along  at  great  speed.  As  to  conversation,  that 
never  slackened,  and  should  political  economy  come 


286      REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

to  the  front  his  opinions  were  the  more  deserving  of 
attention,  that  they  sometimes  surprised  you.  Take 
the  following  as  an  instance. 

The  Duke  had  done  more  than  any  minister  of 
modern  times  to  diminish  the  public  expenditure. 
He  had  reduced  to  the  lowest  level,  consistent  with 
modern  efficiency,  not  the  army  and  navy  alone,  but 
the  staff  of  our  dockyards,  of  our  arsenals,  and  of 
all  the  public  establishments  in  the  country.  The 
wisdom  of  so  doing  is  hesitatingly  disputed,  and 
the  Duke,  admitting  the  force  of  some  of  the  argu- 
ments in  defence  of  the  objection  raised,  "Yes," 
he  observed,  "  it  is  quite  true  that  dockyards  and 
arsenals  fully  manned  give  employment  to  many, 
whereas  when  you  reduce  them  to  a  minimum  you 
may  throw  whole  families  upon  their  parishes,  but 
it  is  not  easy  to  convince  the  ratepayer  that  if 
they  be  called  upon  to  pay  a  little  more  in  the 
shape  of  taxes  they  recoup  themselves  through  the 
diminished  poor-rates."  Bear  in  mind  that  forty 
or  fifty  or  sixty  years  ago  the  difficulty  ex- 
perienced, especially  in  rural  parishes,  was  to  find 
work  for  men  willing  and  able  to  labour,  and  that 
England  was  still  suffering  from  the  loss  of  her 
carrying  trade  by  sea  and  agricultural  depression 
on  shore,  from  the  changes  that  had  suddenly  taken 
place,  little  more  than  fifteen  years  previously, 
from  a  state  of  war  to  one  of  peace.  Then  trade, 
its  conditions  and  prospects,  are  discussed,  and  the 
futility   dwelt  upon    of    imagining   that    England 


A    MEMORABLE    DRIVE  287 

could  hope  to  continue  for  ever  the  workshop  of 
the  world.  Just  as  we  are  entering  Ramsgate, 
and  while  the  possibility,  under  consideration,  of 
forcing  markets  abroad  by  a  reduction  in  the  price 
of  manufactured  goods  at  home,  the  Duke  suddenly 
discovers  that  he  has  come  out  without  a  pocket- 
handkerchief.  We  accordingly  stop  at  the  first 
draper's  shop  that  comes  in  our  way,  when  the 
Duke  gets  down,  and  presently  comes  out  again 
with  a  cotton  handkerchief  in  his  hand.  It  is 
white,  with  red  spots,  and,  unfolding  it,  he  says, 
"  Now,  here  is  an  article  which  one  would  think 
might  find  a  market  anywhere.  I  paid  only  a 
shilling  for  it." 

You  return  home  before  dark,  repair  for  an  hour 
or  more  to  your  respective  chambers,  and  meet 
again  at  seven  for  dinner.  It  is  a  very  simple 
meal,  consisting  of  soup,  fresh  herrings,  an  entremet, 
a  small  leg  of  Welsh  mutton,  a  roast  pheasant,  and 
a  pudding.  The  Duke  has  an  excellent  appetite, 
and  eats  fast.  He  still  drinks  his  wine,  though 
moderately,  and  after  wine  and  coffee  you  repair 
to  the  drawing-room,  where  an  arm-chair  is  set  on 
each  side  of  the  fireplace,  with  a  little  table  and 
candle  near  it.  One  of  these  chairs  the  Duke 
occupies,  you  sit  down  on  the  other,  and  each 
takes  his  book  or  his  newspaper,  as  the  case  may 
be.  From  time  to  time  one  or  the  other  looks  up 
and  makes  a  remark.  If  it  be  germane  to  any 
matter    previously   discussed,   or   prove    in    other 


288       REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

way  interesting  to  the  vis-d-vis,  down  go  both 
books,  and  for  jvist  as  long  as  is  necessary,  agree- 
able conversation  takes  the  place  of  reading,  and 
so  the  evening  passes  till  about  eleven  o'clock, 
when  the  Duke  rises  and  quits  the  room,  observing 
as  he  passes,  flat  candlestick  in  hand,  "  Don't  forget 
when  you  go  to  bed  to  ring  the  bell." 

Having  furnished  his  house  to  his  own  mind,  the 
Duke  did  not  consider  himself  called  upon  to  go  to 
extra  expense  in  order  to  put  up  a  gorgeously 
equipped  chamber  for  guests,  however  exalted  in 
rank.  The  Queen  and  Prince  Albert  were  received 
at  Stratfieldsaye  with  all  the  respect  and  devotion 
which  was  their  due,  but  the  set  of  apartments 
allotted  to  them  underwent  no  change  from  their 
ordinary  condition.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  he  him- 
self observed,  or  the  circumstance  was  pointed  out 
to  him,  that  something  was  wanting,  the  presence 
of  which  miffht  contribute  to  the  comfort  of  a  com- 
ing  visitor,  he  did  his  best  to  supply  it.  Miss 
Pellew,  for  instance,  and  her  father,  Lord  Exmouth, 
were  expected  on  one  occasion  at  Walmer.  Miss 
Pellew  was  a  great  musician  and  excelled  as  a 
pianist.  There  was  no  piano  in  Walmer  Castle, 
and  the  music  shops  at  Deal  being  overhauled  and 
found  not  to  contain  a  first-rate  instrument,  the 
Duke  ordered  one  to  be  sent  from  London. 

With  all  this  urbanity  and  gentleness,  when 
neither  irritated  nor  provoked,  the  Duke  could 
make  himself,  when  he  chose,  a  very  disagreeable 


MAJOR    TODD  289 

controversialist.  Great  men  can  seldom  endure 
contradiction,  and  are  not  always  tolerant  of  mis- 
takes, even  if  involuntary.  If  these  be  serious  either 
in  themselves  or  in  their  consequences,  the  best 
thing  the  defaulter  can  do  is  to  keep  out  of  the 
way  till  the  waters  of  wrath  subside.  To  beard  the 
lion  in  his  den  while  the  fit  is  on  him  will  only 
make  bad  ten  times  worse. 

Major  Todd  of  the  Staff  Corps  was  an  ofBcer  of 
considerable  merit,  and  famed  for  his  skill  as 
a  bridge  maker.  He  was  of  humble  origin,  being 
a  son,  if  I  recollect  right,  of  the  butler  of  one  of  the 
royal  Dukes,  through  whose  influence  he  obtained 
a  commission.  It  happened  during  one  of  the 
operations,  soon  after  the  army  entered  France, 
that  a  bridge  he  had  thrown  over  a  stream  gave 
way  under  the  pressure  of  a  gun  in  transition,  a 
heavier  piece  than  he  had  expected  would  be 
advanced  by  that  route.  Tidings  of  the  accident 
reached  the  Duke  while  he  was  at  dinner.  Having 
among  other  guests  the  Due  d'Angoulerae  near  him, 
and  knowing  that  the  consequence  must  be  con- 
siderable delay  in  executing  the  plan  he  had 
formed,  he  was  furious.  Unfortunately  for  him- 
self, Todd  arrived  just  at  this  moment  to  explain 
and  make  his  report.  He  was  listened  to  in  silence, 
and  then  in  no  measured  language  informed  that 
his  excuses  were  worthless  and  himself  a  bungler. 
Quite  unprepared  for  such  a  reception,  the  major 
stood  riveted  to  the  spot  where  he  stood,  close  to 

T 


290      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

the  Duke's  chair ;  whereupon,  hurried  away  by- 
temper,  the  Duke  turned  round  and  said,  "  Are 
you  going  to  take  up  your  father's  trade  ? "  Poor 
Todd  hurried  out  of  the  room.  There  was  an 
action  next  day  of  which  a  portion  consisted  in 
a  smart  skirmish  between  the  French  Hght  troops 
and  our  army  in  some  vineyards.  The  officer  com- 
manding in  that  quarter  chanced  to  have  been 
present  at  the  Duke's  dinner  the  previous  evening, 
and  seeing  Todd  approach  on  horseback,  rode  up 
and  tried  to  enter  into  conversation  with  him. 
Todd  took  little  or  no  notice,  but  trotted  on  in  spite 
of  the  remonstrances  of  his  companion. 

"  You  have  no  business  there,  you  can  do  no 
good,  they  can  hardly  miss  you  if  you  place  your- 
self in  an  alley  like  that."  "  I  don't  want  them  to," 
was  the  answer,  and  almost  immediately  the  poor 
fellow  dropped  dead,  riddled  with  musket  balls. 

Another  instance  of  the  Duke's  over-severe 
censure  of  a  proceeding,  less  excusable  doubtless 
than  Todd's,  though  under  the  circumstances 
scarcely  unnatural,  may  be  given. 

Colonel  Gurwood,  as  all  the  world  knows,  was 
taken  up  by  the  Duke  in  consequence  of  his 
gallantry  at  the  storming  of  Ciudad  Rodrigo,  where 
he  was  fortunate  enough  to  receive  the  Governor's 
sword,  after  himself  making  him  prisoner.  He 
subsequently  published,  first  the  Duke's  general 
orders  when  commander  of  the  forces  in  the 
Peninsula   and  the   south  of  France,   and   later  a 


COLONEL   GURWOOD  291 

selection  from  his  dispatches.  Brought  thus  for 
many  years  into  daily  communication  with  the 
Duke,  we  can  hardly  blame  him  for  making 
a  record  of  the  great  man's  conversations,  doubtless 
with  a  view  to  becoming  at  some  future  time  a 
Boswell  to  that  gigantic  Johnson. 

That  in  such  a  work  he  would  have  done  justice 
to  the  hero  of  his  tale  may  partly  be  questioned, 
for  Gurwood  though  brave,  and  not  wanting  in 
intelligence,  was  very  vain,  and  certainly  did  not 
possess  mind  enough  to  read  the  Duke's  character 
aright.  Still  the  compilation  of  these  manuscripts 
was  to  him  a  labour  of  love,  and  carefully  he 
arranged  and  laid  them  by  as  they  accumulated. 
Had  he  kept  his  own  counsel,  matters  might  have 
taken  the  course  he  desired  them  to  take,  but  he 
lacked  discretion  enough  for  that,  and  unfortunately 
for  himself  made  a  confidant  of  one  whom  I  shall 
not  name,  because  he  behaved  abominably. 

If  there  was  one  thinor  more  than  another  which 
the  Duke  abhorred,  it  was  that  what  he  held  to  be 
the  sanctity  of  private  intercourse  should  be 
violated.  Men  who  were  known  or  suspected  of 
keeping  diaries  he  accordingly  shrank  from,  and  he 
denounced  such  works  as  Captain  Basil  Hall's 
Schloss  HainfeJd  as  base,  and  their  authors  as  dis- 
honourable. No  sooner  therefore,  was  he  informed 
how  Gurwood  had  been  occupied,  than  he  sent  for 
him,  and  requested  that  the  manuscripts  should  be 
burnt. 


292      REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

Had  his  own  life  been  demanded  of  him  or  that 
of  his  wife,  Gurwood  would  have  felt  it  less  than 
the  order  to  commit  these  precious  papers  to  the 
flames.  In  comparison  with  the  delight  he  took  in 
correcting  and  adding  to  them,  everything  else 
which  he  possessed  or  hoped  for  seemed  stale  and 
unprofitable.  And  now  to  be  called  upon  all  at 
once  to  destroy  them — the  prosj)ect  was  terrible. 
What,  however,  could  he  do  ?  All  that  he  had  in 
life,  his  advancement  in  his  profession,  his  office  in 
the  Tower,  the  honour  of  being  recognised  as  squire 
to  his  great  chief,  he  owed  to  the  Duke.  There  was 
but  one  course  open  to  him,  and  he  took  it.  He 
made  a  bonfire  of  his  precious  memoranda,  and 
never  held  up  his  head  again. 

For  Gurwood  was  preternaturally  sensitive.  He 
may  be  said  to  have  lived  upon  the  favour  shown 
him  by  the  Duke,  and  in  some  sense  to  have 
merged  his  own  identity  in  that  of  his  patron. 
You  could  not  help  seeing  this  in  all  his  proceed- 
ings. Begin  with  him  the  discussion  of  what 
subject  you  might,  he  never  failed  to  bring  in  the 
Duke's  judgment  on  the  point,  and  his  movements, 
his  expressions,  the  very  cadence  of  his  laugh,  were 
all  the  closest  possible  echoes  of  the  Duke's.  Other 
tokens  he  gave  besides  of  a  temperament  nervously 
excitable.  I  remember  his  being  present  on  one 
occasion  in  the  chapel  at  Chelsea  Hospital  when  one 
of  the  psalms  for  the  day,  being  the  18th  of  the 
month  of  June,  led  me  to  speak  to  the  old  men  of 


COLONEL   GURWOOD  293 

the  Battle  of  Waterloo,  in  which  many  of  them  had 
borne  a  part.  Gurwood  sat  in  what  was  then  the 
major's  pew,  behind  that  of  the  governor,  and 
under  the  organ  gallery,  and  there,  after  vainly 
striving  to  control  himself,  he  burst  into  such 
a  passion  of  weeping,  that  it  was  necessary  for  Sir 
John  Wilson  to  lead  him  out  of  the  chapel.  Poor 
fellow  !  he  was  precisely  the  sort  of  man  who  could 
"  enter  the  battle  sepulchre  at  the  cannon's  mouth  " 
without  one  twinge  of  fear,  yet  for  whom  the 
sudden  collapse  of  hopes  which  he  had  cherished 
for  years  would  have  the  effect  of  a  death-warrant. 

Let  no  man  lay  to  the  Duke's  charge  the  deaths 
of  these  two  men.  We  may  regret  that  he  should 
have  wounded  the  feelings  of  either,  and  perhaps 
censure  him  for  lack  of  delicacy  in  reminding  one 
of  them  of  his  lowly  origin.  But  it  showed  exces- 
sive weakness  on  both  their  parts  to  treat  a  passing 
mortification,  however  keen,  as  if  it  covered  them 
with  such  a  load  of  shame  as  rendered  life  unbear- 
able. 

The  Bev.  Mr.  Briscall  knew  better  how  to  take  a 
slight,  though  it  must  have  been  hard  enough  to 
bear,  because  it  was  of  long  continuance. 

The  Duke  often  complained  of  being  asked  for 
advice  by  persons  who  had  little  or  no  right  to 
trouble  him,  and  on  subjects  which  concerned  only 
his  correspondents  themselves.  He  was  quite  jus- 
tified in  doing  so,  yet  I  venture  to  think  that  these 
marks  of  respect  for  his  judgment  were  not  dis- 


294      REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

agreeable  to  him,  and  this  I  know,  that  nothing 
offended  him  more  than  your  first  asking  his  advice 
and  then  acting  contrary  to  it.  "  When  you  ask 
my  advice,"  he  used  to  say  to  those  who  failed  to 
abide  by  it,  "I  expect  you  to  follow  it.  You 
have  not  done  so  on  this  occasion,  and  I  must 
therefore  decline  to  be  your  counsellor  hereafter." 
He  was  equally  impatient  of  any  disposition  to 
evade  or  act  contrary  to  whatever  directions  he 
might  have  given.  How  beggars  of  all  ranks 
harassed  and  latterly  imposed  upon  him  I  have 
told  elsewhere,  but  the  following  anecdote  seems 
worth  repeating  for  more  than  one  reason. 

There  came  to  him  from  Edinburgh  an  earnest 
entreaty  for  help,  backed  up  with  a  pitiful  story  of 
suffering  on  the  part  of  an  officer  who  had  sold  out, 
lost  his  money,  and,  with  a  wife  and  family,  was 
starving.  The  Duke  sent  for  his  son  Charles,  gave 
him  the  letter,  and  with  it  a  ten-pound  note, 
desiring  that  it  might  be  forwarded  to  the  proper 
address.  Lord  Charles,  who  had  been  quartered  in 
Edinburgh  not  long  before,  saw  reason  to  suspect 
an  imposture,  and  instead  of  sending  the  money, 
wrote  to  a  staff-officer  on  the  spot  and  requested 
him  to  inquire  into  the  case.  In  a  few  days  the 
answer  arrived,  bringing  incontestable  proof  that 
the  whole  tale  was  got  up  by  a  knot  of  swindlers, 
and  that  no  such  case  of  distress  existed.  Armed 
with  his  letter  Lord  Charles  went  to  his  father's 
room,   put  it  into  his  father's  hands,  and  with  it 


LORD    CHARLES   WELLESLEY  295 

the  ten-pound  note.  The  Duke  read  the  letter, 
pocketed  the  note,  and  then  said  in  a  stern  voice, 
"Charles,  when  I  desire  you  to  do  anything  I 
expect  you  to  do  it." 

A  kindred  incident,  in  which  Lord  Charles  again 
played  a  part,  may  be  worth  describing.  The  place 
for  the  meet  of  the  Vine  hounds  was  so  remote  from 
Stratfieldsaye,  that  the  Duke  found  it  necessary  on 
one  occasion  to  send  his  horses  forward  overnight, 
while  he  and  his  son  joined  next  morning  early, 
in  a  carriage.  The  carriage  was  a  phaeton  with 
German  windows,  through  one  of  the  panes  in  which 
the  reins  were  passed,  and  the  Duke  was  the  driver. 
After  a  time  he  began  to  nod,  and  Lord  Charles, 
on  looking  out,  saw  that,  pulling  steadily  on  one 
rein,  his  father  was  directing  the  horses  towards 
a  wide  wet  ditch  which  skirted  the  road.  Not 
desiring  to  awake  the  sleeper,  and  anxious  to  avoid 
a  catastrophe,  he  seized  the  other  rein,  gave  it  a 
jerk,  and  brought  the  horses  back  from  the  brink  of 
the  ditch.  But  he  did  awake  the  sleeper,  who 
exclaimed  in  an  angry  voice,  "  What  are  you  about, 
Charles?"  Lord  Charles  told  him,  and  received 
this  reply  :  "I  wish  you  would  mind  your  own 
business ! " 

Being  on  the  subject  of  his  dealings  with  his 
sons,  truth  compels  me  to  acknowledge  that  the 
eldest,  his  successor  in  the  title,  received  but  scant 
justice  at  his  hands.  When  estrangements  occur 
in  families  there  are  invariably  faults  on  both  sides. 


296      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

and  Lord  Douro,  it  must  be  admitted,  was  not  in 
all  respects  as  attentive  as  he  might  have  been  to 
meet  his  father's  wishes.  Possessing  excellent 
natural  abilities,  and  a  large  share  of  acquired 
information,  he  never  took  the  place  he  ought  to 
have  taken  in  public  life,  but  wasted,  rather  than 
cultivated,  talents  which,  had  he  been  obliged  to 
work  his  own  way  in  the  world,  could  not  have 
failed  to  secure  to  him  both  independence  and 
distinction.  The  Duke,  absorbed  in  public  affairs, 
could  not  understand  his  son's  indifference  to  them, 
and  much  resented  it.  He  was  unable  to  see  that 
a  young  man  of  Lord  Douro's  temperament  is  just 
as  likely  to  be  deterred  by  the  contemplation  of  the 
exceeding  greatness  of  his  father  from  following  in 
his  footsteps  as  to  be  enticed  into  them.  The  con- 
sequence was  an  alienation  on  the  father's  part 
which  did  the  son  no  good,  but  which  the  son  paid 
back  by  becoming,  in  after  years,  the  devoted 
guardian  of  his  father's  fame.  I  have  got,  how- 
ever, upon  very  delicate  ground,  and  must  turn 
from  it. 

No  one  less  relished  than  the  Duke,  argument, 
when  it  threatened  to  degenerate  into  disputation. 
He  seldom,  therefore,  contradicted  in  society  per- 
sons who  spoke  at  random,  and  was  rarely  tempted 
into  abstract  discussion.  "  Duke,"  said  the  late 
Lord  Stanhope  to  him  one  day  when  they  stood 
together  over  the  hbrary  fire,  having  just  returned 
from  hunting,    "  what  is   your  opinion  respecting 


CHANCELLOR   OF    OXFORD    UNIVERSITY         297 

the  influence  of  circumstances  over  Bonaparte  ? 
Did  they  make  him  what  he  became,  or  did  he  bend 
them  to  his  own  purposes  ?  "  "  My  dear  Lord 
Stanhope,"  replied  the  Duke,  "  it  would  take  a 
volume  to  answer  your  question.  I  must  go  and 
take  off*  my  muddy  boots  ! "  The  Duke  and  his 
party  encountered,  on  another  occasion,  Mr.  Byng, 
better  known  as  Poodle  Byng,  in  Dover.  Byng 
began  immediately  to  criticise  the  strength  of  the 
works,  and  to  enlarge  on  the  possible  effect  of  the 
castle  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy  while  a 
British  garrison  held  the  heights.  He  had  the  talk 
all  to  himself,  for  the  Duke,  though  he  appeared  to 
listen,  never  put  in  a  remark.  "  How  came  you  to 
let  Byng  talk  such  rubbish  ? "  was  the  question 
asked  durinc]:  the  homeward  drive.  "  Because  I 
never  contradict  anybody  if  I  can  help  it,  especially 
when  I  see  he  knows  nothing  at  all  about  the 
matter  in  hand." 

No  event  in  his  life  ever  surprised  the  Duke  more 
than  his  election  to  the  Chancellorship  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Oxford.  His  first  impulse  was  to  decline 
the  honour,  but  a  private  deputation  from  heads 
of  houses,  and  the  entreaties  of  his  political  friends, 
overcame  his  scruples.  The  Oxford  Conservatives 
reckoned  perhaps  too  much  upon  both  the  power 
and  the  will  of  their  military  Chancellor  to  protect 
the  University  from  changes.  From  the  day  when 
the  constitution  of  1688  was  broken  in  upon  in 
Parliament,  change  had  become  inevitable  through- 


298       REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

out  all  the  institutions  of  the  country,  and  the 
most  that  the  Duke,  or  any  other  Chancellor,  could 
effect  for  Oxford  was  to  make  the  inevitable  changes 
come  as  gradually,  and  therefore  as  innocuously,  as 
possible.  This  the  Duke  accomplished,  though  he 
fought  the  battle  at  the  outset  under  great  disad- 
vantages, arising,  in  some  measure  at  least,  out  of 
his  own  ignorance  of  the  subjects  with  which  he 
had  to  deal.  A  curious  instance  of  this  may  be 
given. 

A  debate  came  off  in  the  House  of  Lords  in  1836 
or  1837  on  some  scheme  for  improving  the  general 
course  of  studies  in  the  Universities.  References 
were  of  course  made  to  the  probable  costs  of  the 
proposed  measure,  and  to  the  resources  whence 
they  could  be  met.  But  so  awkwardly  was  the 
subject  handled  that  the  distinction  between  the 
property  of  the  University  and  the  property  of  the 
several  colleges  got  confounded  together.  One  of 
the  Duke's  friends — not  a  peer — happened  to  be 
behind  the  throne  at  the  time,  and  the  Duke, 
seeing  him,  made  his  way  up  to  the  bar  and  said : 
"  What  do  they  mean  by  University  property  and 
College  property  ?  Are  not  the  Colleges  part  and 
parcel  of  the  University  ? "  His  friend  explained 
to  him  what  everybody  knows  now,  that  our  col- 
leges in  Oxford  and  Cambridge  are  only  the  enlarge- 
ment of  hostelries  or  lodging-houses  provided  by  in- 
dividuals for  the  accommodation  of  persons  pursuing 
their  studies  at  the  University  ;  that  these  assumed 


HIS   ARISTOCRATIC    VIEWS  299 

their  present  proportions  only  by  degrees,  and 
that  the  landed  estates  and  Church  livings  with 
which  they  are  endowed  came  to  them  through  the 
bounty  of  private  benefactors,  and  are  no  more  con- 
nected with  the  University  than  the  estates  of  any 
of  the  neighbouring  landowners.  The  Duke  took 
in  the  information  thus  communicated  to  him  with 
marvellous  rapidity,  and  made  one  of  the  best, 
because  one  of  the  most  lucid,  speeches  of  the 
evening. 

The  Duke  was  heart  and  soul  an  aristocrat,  and 
never  pretended  to  be  anything  else.  He  earnestly 
desired  that  the  people  should  be  well  and  wisely 
governed,  but  he  scouted  the  idea  that  wise  and 
just  rulers  were  to  be  found  among  the  uneducated 
classes.  According  to  his  own  view  of  the  case — 
and  have  not  time  and  events  confirmed  it  ? — the 
lower  you  bring  the  franchise  in  a  constitutional 
monarchy  the  nearer  you  come  to  democracy — of 
all  the  forms  of  government  under  which  to  live 
the  most  detestable.  It  was  to  the  influence  of  an 
aristocracy,  patriotic,  moderate,  and  just,  that 
England  owed  her  moral  superiority  over  other 
nations.  Secrets  were  never  betrayed  in  our 
public  offices  or  in  our  embassies.  Why  ?  Be- 
cause })ublic  offices  and  embassies  were  officered  by 
gentlemen  who,  unlike  the  officials  of  other  states, 
were  proof  against  bribes.  The  English  army  was 
the  best  in  the  world,  not  because  Englishmen  are 
braver  or   more    enduring    than    other    races,   but 


300      REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

because  the  officers  of  the  EngHsh  army  are  gentle- 
men. No  doubt  he  carried  this  sentiment  at  times 
a  little  too  far.  If  a  man  of  noble  birth  and  a 
commoner  ran  a  race,  the  former  not  being  superior, 
perhaps  somewhat  inferior  in  point  of  ability  to  the 
latter,  he  would  favour  the  noble.  Lord  Cardigan's 
case  is  one  to  the  point. 

Perhaps  no  officer  in  the  army  ever  gave  the 
Duke  more  trouble  as  Commander-in-Chief  than 
Lord  Cardigan.  He  was  continually  doing  harsh 
and  ungracious  things,  and  at  last  got  into  a 
difficulty  which  made  it  necessary  to  place  him  on 
the  half-pay  list.  A  commoner  so  circumstanced 
would  have  probably  spent  the  remainder  of  his 
days  in  retirement.  It  was  not  so  with  Lord 
Cardigan.  After  a  brief  interval  of  seclusion  he 
was  brought  forward  again,  placed  in  command  of 
the  11th  Hussars,  and  kept  there  in  spite  of  fre- 
quent complaints,  and  at  least  one  duel,  followed 
by  a  trial,  till  he  attained  the  rank  of  general 
officer.  For  his  employment  on  the  staff  of  the 
army  in  the  Crimea  the  Duke  was  not  responsible. 
That  blunder,  for  a  blunder  it  proved  to  be  when 
taken  in  connection  with  Lord  Lucan's  position, 
was  the  work  of  the  Duke's  successor  at  the  Horse 
Guards. 

On  the  other  hand  the  Duke  would  do  nothing 
out  of  the  way  for  his  own  relatives.  His  sons 
purchased  all  their  commissions,  and  if  they 
attained  field-rank  somewhat  early  it  was  because 


RELATIONS    WITH    THE   ARMY  301 

of  the  facility  of  purchasing  unattached  commissions 
which,  being  open  to  them  as  to  all  the  world,  was 
embraced  regardless  of  expense.  So  likewise  his 
nephew,  afterwards  Dean  of  Windsor,  owed  nothing 
more  to  the  Duke  than  the  Rectory  of  Stratfield- 
saye,  a  natural  appointment,  inasmuch  as  the 
church  and  the  rectory  stand  both  within  the  park. 
It  is  understood,  indeed,  that  he  did  make  an  effort 
to  get  his  brother,  the  Canon  of  Durham,  raised  to 
the  episcopal  bench,  but  the  effort  seems  not  to 
have  been  a  very  strenuous  one,  and  it  failed,  as 
perhaps  the  Duke  himself,  looking  to  all  the  cir- 
cumstances, might  have  wished  it  to  do. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  feeling  of  the 
army  towards  the  Duke,  as  well  in  the  Peninsula 
as  at  home,  was  one  rather  of  respect  and  con- 
fidence than  of  personal  devotion.  This  is  not  to 
be  wondered  at.  Strictly  just,  according  to  his 
own  views  of  justice,  the  Duke  took  no  pains 
whatever  to  conciliate  the  love  or  stir  the  en- 
thusiasm of  his  followers.  In  the  hour  of  danger 
his  presence  was  worth  the  arrival  of  a  strong  rein- 
forcement, and  his  cheery  word  and  lively  manners 
acted  like  a  charm  on  the  men  however  hardly 
pressed.  His  little  speech  to  the  85th  regiment,  on 
the  12th  December  1813,  made  them  a  match  for 
twice  their  numbers  of  the  enemy ;  and  to  every- 
thing which  bore  upon  the  substantial  well-being  of 
the  troops — their  clothing,  provisions,  supplies  of 
blankets,  and  the  care  of  the  sick  and  wounded — 


302      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

he  paid  unremitting  attention.  Yet  he  never,  as 
far  as  I  know,  visited  the  hospitals  in  person,  and 
his  general  orders  were  almost  always  the  reverse 
of  complimentary.  Even  his  published  dispatches 
after  a  battle  went  little  further  than  to  describe 
in  as  few  words  as  possible  how  it  had  been  fought 
and  won,  and  to  express  in  general  terms  his  satis- 
faction with  the  conduct  of  officers  commanding 
divisions,  brigades,  and  regiments.  Now  it  is  a 
mistake  to  suppose  that  the  British  soldier  puts  no 
store  on  words  which  appeal  to  his  chivalry  and 
recognise  the  many  good  qualities  which  belong  to 
him.  Such  rhapsodies  as  Napoleon  was  in  the  habit 
of  addressing  to  his  army  would  excite  only  ridicule 
in  the  ranks  of  a  British  regiment.  But  British 
regiments  love  to  be  told  that  on  their  valour  and 
endurance  the  country  can  safely  rely,  and  the 
leader  who  omits  to  season  his  habitual  rebukes 
with  well-timed  compliments  to  this  effect  commits 
a  sfrave  mistake.  This  was  the  mistake  which  the 
Duke  committed ;  and  though  no  evil  effects  came 
out  of  it  so  far  as  the  conduct  of  the  men  was 
concerned,  it  left  upon  the  minds  of  the  general 
bulk  of  the  army  an  impression  perhaps  unfavour- 
able, and  in  a  degree  unjust  towards  its  illustrious 
commander.  Talk  to  a  veteran  of  the  old  war 
about  Lord  Hill  or  General  Craufurd,  and  you 
heard  as  much  of  his  kindness  as  of  his  gallantry. 
Speak  to  him  of  Wellington  and  he  readily  ex- 
pressed his  confidence  in  the  man  as  a  leader,  but 


HIS    TEMPER  303 

of  personal  love  towards  him  not  a  word  would 
be  said. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  account  for  this  circumstance. 
The  Duke  himself  had  little  enthusiasm  in  his  com- 
position. He  had  the  strongest  possible  sense  of 
duty,  and  would  do  or  suffer  all  that  human  nature 
can  suffer  or  do  at  the  call  of  duty ;  but  not  a  par- 
ticle of  romance  was  mixed  up  with  this  principle, 
and  it  never  therefore  entered  into  his  imaPfination 
to  conceive  that  anything  beyond  the  coldest  direc- 
tions how  certain  duties  were  to  be  performed  could 
be  necessary  for  others.  Another  peculiarity  of  his 
character  deserves  notice  in  connection  with  this 
subject.  A  temper  naturally  hasty  became,  through 
long  exercise  of  absolute  power,  intolerant  of  the 
slightest  provocation,  and  every  breach  of  discipline, 
no  matter  how  limited  its  range,  made  him  furious 
with  the  whole  army.  Hence  frequent  general 
orders,  as  violent  as  they  were  essentially  unjust, 
wherein,  because  of  the  misdeeds  of  a  few,  all  who 
served  under  him  were  denounced — the  officers  as 
ignorant  of  their  duty,  the  men  as  little  better 
than  a  rabble.  And  yet  the  same  man,  who  thus 
addressed  his  army  while  leading  it  from  one 
victory  to  another,  stated  in  his  evidence  before 
a  parliamentary  committee,  that  it  was  the  most 
perfect  machine  ever  put  together,  and  that  with 
it  he  could  go  anywhere  and  do  anything. 

This  temper,  which  grew  upon  him  in  the  held, 
he  carried  into  private  life.     Frank  and  even  genial 


304      REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE   OF    WELLINGTON 

in  general  society  as  he  appeared  to  be,  he  had  few 
intimacies,  and  in  order  to  retain  your  place  in  his 
confidence,  it  was  necessary  not  on  any  occasion  to 
contradict  or  oppose  him  too  openly  ;  and,  likewise, 
if  you  asked  his  advice  on  any  matter  (and  in  reality 
he  liked  to  be  consulted,  though  often  complaining 
of  the  extent  to  which  the  practice  was  carried)  he 
expected  you  to  follow  it  implicitly.  If  you  did 
not,  you  were  soon  made  to  feel  that  you  had  fallen 
in  his  estimation.  This  I  know  from  personal  ex- 
perience, and  the  experience  was  long  a  source 
of  intense  grief  to  me.  The  Duke,  when  Prime 
Minister,  abolished  the  office  of  Chaplain- General. 
He  and  Sir  H.  Hardinge  between  them  allowed  the 
chaplain  department  to  die  out  of  the  army,  and  in 
placing  me  where  Dr.  Dakins  had  been,  neither  of 
them  calculated  on  my  making  any  effort  to  undo 
their  work.  Both,  but  especially  the  Duke,  resented 
the  course  which  I  felt  it  my  duty  to  take  in  this 
direction,  and  when  I  proceeded  to  suggest  a 
reform  of  the  Duke  of  York's  school  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  system  of  education  in  the  army 
itself,  I  lost  his  favoiu-  altogether.  Sir  George 
Brown,  my  old  brother-officer  and  friend,  who  was 
as  much  opposed  to  change  as  the  Duke  himself, 
took  care  that  I  should  know  this  more  distinctly 
than  the  Duke  himself.  After  telling  me  how 
angry  the  Duke  was,  he  quoted  the  Commander- 
in-Chief  as  saying :  "  By  Jove  !  if  ever  there  is  a 
mutiny   in   the   army — and  in   all  probability  we 


AS    ARMY    REFORMER  305 

shall  have  one — you  '11  see  that  these  new-fangled 
schoolmasters  will  be  at  the  bottom  of  it." 

It  would  be  a  great  oversight  were  I,  while  on 
this  subject,  to  pass  by  unnoticed  the  charge 
which  has  been  brought  against  the  Duke  of 
neglecting,  during  his  long  continuance  in  office, 
the  best  interests  of  the  army.  As  Prime  Minister 
he  reduced  the  artillery  to  a  state  of  inefficiency. 
He  allowed  the  wagon-train  to  die  out,  and  virtu- 
ally extinguished  the  commissariat.  His  distribu- 
tion of  each  battalion  of  infantry  into  six  companies 
for  foreign  service,  and  four  to  act  as  a  depot  at 
home,  was  in  itself  excellent.  But  like  every  other 
institution  in  this  country  it  lay  open  to  abuse,  and 
for  lack  of  close  and  persistent  watching,  it  was 
abused.  Officers,  well  connected  and  otherwise, 
commanding  what  was  called  interest,  generally 
managed,  if  their  regiments  were  sent  to  unhealthy 
or  disagreeable  stations,  to  spend  most  of  their 
time  at  the  depot.  With  the  members  of  a  regi- 
ment serving  in  India  this  indeed  was  impossible, 
because  Indian  regiments  left  but  single  companies 
at  home  to  recruit  for  them.  But  in  his  day,  we 
must  bear  in  mind,  British  regiments  garrisoned  all 
the  Colonies,  of  which  some,  and  notably  the  West 
Indies,  Mauritius,  and  Ceylon,  were  very  unpopular. 
Neither  did  this  system,  good  as  in  many  respects 
it  was,  provide  for  returning  battalions  at  moderate 
intervals  in  foreign  stations.  Once  landed  in  India, 
the  chances  were  that  the  bulk  of  the  men  com- 

u 


306      REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

posing  a  battalion  would  never  see  England  again, 
and  even  the  transfer  from  the  Mediterranean  to 
the  West  Indies,  and  from  the  West  Indies  to 
North  America,  suffered  constant  interruptions. 
The  truth  is,  that  the  Duke  attempted,  with 
a  numerically  weak  army,  to  do  what  could  not  be 
done  effectually  except  by  a  very  numerous  army, 
and  the  consequence  was  that  our  dependencies 
were  taught  to  rely  for  their  defence  on  feeble 
garrisons,  and  we  were  to  all  intents  and  purposes 
helpless  at  home.  It  may  be  said,  that  not  till 
long  after  the  Duke's  death  was  there  any  call 
upon  England  to  assume  more  of  the  character  of  a 
military  nation  than  she  had  done  from  time  im- 
memorial. Except  in  Russia,  foreign  powers  re- 
cruited their  armies  as  they  had  done  in  years  past, 
and  dismissed  their  conscripts,  after  they  had  served 
their  appointed  time,  into  private  life.  And  Prussia 
was  not  fifty  years  ago  what  she  is  now,  the  ob- 
served of  all  observers.  The  desirability  of  having 
available  a  trained  reserve  on  which  to  draw  at  the 
outbreak  of  hostilities  never  therefore  occurred  to 
the  Duke,  much  less  the  wisdom  of  passing  through 
the  ranks  as  many  men  as  possible  within  the  com- 
pass of  a  limited  number  of  years.  On  the  contrary, 
he  remained  till  the  day  of  his  death  an  admirer  of 
service  for  life,  and  was  with  difficulty  prevailed 
upon  to  yield  when  the  proposition  of  enlisting  for 
twelve  years  only  was  brought  forward.  So  like- 
wise his  views  as  to  the^  proper  mode  of  treating 


OPPOSED  TO  SHORT  SERVICE        307 

the  soldier  were,  in  1850,  just  what  they  had  been 
in  1796.  He  could  not  divest  himself  of  the  idea 
that  only  the  scum  of  the  earth  would  ever  think  of 
enlisting,  and  hence  that  to  keep  an  army  composed 
of  such  materials  in  order,  a  stern  discipline  was 
necessary.  The  truth  is  that  the  Duke,  rigidly 
conservative  on  all  other  points,  was  specially  so  in 
regard  to  the  army,  and  "he  is  the  best  friend  of 
the  army,"  he  used  to  say,  "  who  most  religiously 
keeps  it  out  of  sight.  It  is  a  necessary  evil,  as  most 
expensive  institutions  are,  and  we  should  be  mad 
were  we  to  make  a  pet  of  it,  thus  promoting  one  or 
other  of  two  ends.  For  either  the  country  will 
take  it  into  its  head  that  it  is  a  fine  thing  to  have  an 
enormous  armed  force,  in  which  case  taxation  will 
be  largely  increased  and  property  crippled,  or  else 
an  outcry  will  be  raised,  and  some  fine  morning  we 
may  find  ourselves  without  an  army  at  all."  It  was 
in  this  spirit  that  when  the  scare  came,  incident  on 
the  Spanish  marriages  and  the  coldness  between 
France  and  England,  the  Duke  asked  for  no  more 
than  the  addition  of  20,000  men  to  the  regular  army 
and  the  calling  out  of  50,000  militia.  Alive  to  the 
critical  nature  of  the  position,  he  undertook  to 
guard  against  it  with  the  smallest  possible  increase 
to  the  regular  army,  supported  by  a  force,  which, 
if  somewhat  less  efficient  than  troops  of  the  line, 
would  return  at  once  to  their  ordinary  occupations 
when  the  threatened  danger  should  pass  away. 
It  was  no  easy  matter  to  persuade  the  Duke  that 


308       REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

the  "Brown  Bess"  of  his  own  day  was  not  the 
queen  of  weapons.  He  long  resisted  the  substitu- 
tion of  the  copper  cap  for  the  flint  and  steel,  on  the 
ground  that  the  cap  might  be  forgotten  to  be  given 
either  in  bulk  or  to  individuals,  and  thus,  when  in 
the  presence  of  the  enemy,  the  army  would  be 
helpless.  His  objection  to  the  Minie  rifle  was 
not  less  strong,  yet  in  both  cases  he  yielded  to 
conviction,  though  it  was  one  of  his  peculiarities 
that  on  practical  points  he  never  gave  up  an  old 
belief  to  mere  argument.  Make  him  see  the 
machine  at  work,  and  if  it  worked  well,  there  was 
an  end  to  his  conservatism.  Sir  George  Brown 
carried  him  to  the  marshes  below  Woohvich,  showed 
him  with  what  accuracy  the  "  Minie "  threw  its 
bolt,  and  he  sanctioned  the  change  of  weapon,  not, 
however,  without  a  pang  of  regret. 

I  have  referred  elsewhere  to  the  Duke's  impatience 
of  contradiction  and  his  impatience  under  so  much  as 
the  appearance  of  making  light  of  such  advice  as  he 
might  give.  The  temper  which  on  small  occasions, 
and  with  small  people,  broke  out  in  hard  words, 
and  then  died  down,  stiftened  into  permanent 
alienation  when  called  forth  by  the  conduct  of 
higher  dignitaries. 

The  Duke  when  Ambassador  in  Paris,  and  sub- 
sequently commanding  the  army  of  occupation, 
never  forgave  the  French  Court  certain  slights 
which  were  put  upon  him.  He  has  been  charged 
by    Monsieur    Thiers    and    others    with   declining 


AMBASSADOR   IN    PARIS  309 

to  petition  for  the  life  of  Ney,  which  it  is  alleged 
would  have  been  spared  had  he  asked  it  as  a 
personal  favour  to  himself  The  fact  is  that  Louis 
XVIII.,  apprehensive  lest  the  Duke  should  make 
such  a  request,  more  than  once  on  pretexts 
obviously  frivolous  declined  to  grant  him  an 
audience. 

The  Duke,  a  proud  man,  deeply  resented  the 
slight,  so  much  so,  indeed,  that  when  an  intimation 
was  given  that  the  King  would  see  him — Ney 
having  been  shot — he  took  no  notice  of  the  message. 
One  courtier  after  another  intimated  to  him  that 
the  King  was  hurt  by  his  persistent  absence  from 
Court,  and  at  last  a  special  ambassador  called  upon 
him,  and  entreated  that  he  would  forgive  and  fororet 
what  was  never  meant  to  wound  his  feelings  either 
as  a  man  or  the  representative  of  the  honour  of 
England.  The  Duke's  answer  was  characteristic : 
"As  commanding  my  Sovereign's  troops,  I  must 
remain  here,  and  whatever  is  officially  required  of 
me  I  will  do ;  but  I  am  likewise  an  English  gentle- 
man. The  King  has  insulted  me,  and  unless  the 
insult  be  atoned  for,  I  will  never  go  near  him 
except  on  public  business."  The  King's  messenger 
upon  this  burst  into  tears,  and  the  Duke  did  so  far 
relax  as  to  accept  a  Royal  invitation,  but  he  never 
again  affected  to  be  on  intimate  terms  Avith  the  Court. 

One  of  the  Duke's  characteristic  peculiarities  was 
a  habit  of  making  elaborate  memoranda  on  all  the 
subjects  which  engrossed  his  attention. 


310      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

There  will  be  found  in  his  pubHshed  dispatches 
from  the  seat  of  war  a  carefully  arranged  summary 
at  the  close  of  each  campaign  of  the  principal  events 
which  marked  its  progress,  and  of  the  objects  which 
had,  on  both  sides,  been  aimed  at,  attained,  and 
defeated.  It  was  the  same  with  such  historical 
works  as  interested  him,  especially  if  they  were  on 
recent  operations,  whether  of  war  or  politics.  The 
character  of  Napoleon  he  has  analysed  in  many  of 
his  letters,  but  the  estimate  which  he  took  of  that 
extraordinary  man  as  a  general  will  best  be  under- 
stood by  those  who  read  his  papers,  which  he  com- 
piled after  a  careful  study  of  two  of  the  most 
important  campaigns  arising  out  of  the  invasion 
of  E-ussia  in  1812,  and  that  which  ended  in  the 
crowning  battle  of  Waterloo.  The  latter  is,  I 
presume,  familiar  to  every  student  of  the  art  of 
war,  and  may  be  regarded  as  a  criticism  on  the 
Prussian  version  of  the  campaign.  The  former 
will  be  found  in  Appendix  to  this  volume.  It  was 
written  after  he  had  read  Count  Segur's  and  all  the 
other  accounts  of  the  operations  which  he  was  study- 
ing. A  more  masterly  review  of  great  military 
enterprise  never  was  penned.  It  proves  to  demon- 
stration that  the  true  cause  of  Napoleon's  failure 
was  not  the  premature  coming  on  of  winter,  but 
the  false  principle  on  which  he  carried  on  war — 
overtaxinof  men  and  animals  with  forced  marches, 
taking  no  proper  care  to  establish  either  magazines 
or  hospitals,  and  by  long  halts  throwing  away  the 


HIS   VIEW    OF   NAPOLEON  311 

advantages  which  these  rapid  marches  were  in- 
tended to  secure. 

Another  peculiarity  of  the  great  man  was  that, 
though  he  spoke  out  freely,  and  even  constantly, 
while  discussing  points  that  might  be  raised  in 
conversation,  he  was  very  jealous  of  such  records 
as  might  be  made  of  his  sayings,  and  embraced 
the  first  opportunity  that  presented  itself  of  set- 
ting his  real  meaning  in  a  just  light.  Among  his 
friends,  none  more  delighted  to  get  him  into 
discussions  of  this  sort  than  the  late  Lord  Stan- 
hope. In  particular,  he  often  questioned  him  as 
to  the  estimation  in  which  he  held  Napoleon  and 
the  Duke  of  Marlborough  as  generals,  and,  as  it 
appears,  tried  to  get  his  views  enumerated  in  con- 
versation reduced  to  writing.  The  Duke  seems  to 
have  said  that  he  regarded  Napoleon's  presence  in 
the  field  to  be  worth  40,000  men,  a  loose  expression, 
manifestly,  yet  scarcely  so  regarded  by  his  inter- 
locutor. The  following,  which  I  extract  from  a 
little  volume  published  in  1863  by  the  late  Lord 
Stanhope,  may  be  taken  as  a  sample  of  the  Duke's 
mode  of  softening  down  energetic  expressions.  It 
draws  likewise  a  very  fair  comparison  between  the 
Duke  of  Marlborough  and  himself  as  leaders  of 
armies : — 

"It  is  true  that  I  have  often  said  that  I  con- 
sidered Napoleon's  presence  in  the  field  to  be  equal 
to  40,000  men  in  the  balance.  This  is  a  very  loose 
way  of  talking,  but  the  idea  is  a  very  different  one 


312      REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

from  that  of  his  presence  in  a  battle  being  equal  to 
a  reinforcement  of  40,000  men.  I  will  explain  my 
meaning. 

"  First,  Napoleon  was  a  grand  homme  de  guerre — 
possibly  the  greatest  that  ever  appeared  at  the 
head  of  a  French  army. 

^^  Second,  He  was  the  Sovereign  of  the  country, 
as  well  as  the  military  chief  of  the  army.  That 
country  was  constituted  upon  a  military  basis.  All 
its  institutions  were  framed  for  a  purpose  of  forming 
and  maintaining  armies  with  a  view  to  conquest. 
All  the  offices  and  rewards  of  the  State  were  re- 
served in  the  first  instance  exclusively  for  the 
army.  An  officer — even  a  private  soldier  of  the 
army — might  look  to  the  sovereignty  of  a  kingdom 
as  the  reward  of  his  services.  It  is  obvious  that 
the  presence  of  the  Sovereign  with  an  army  so 
constituted  must  greatly  excite  their  exertions. 

"  Third,  It  was  quite  certain  that  all  the  resources 
of  the  French  State — civil,  political,  financial,  as  well 
as  military — were  turned  towards  the  seat  of  the 
operations,  which  Napoleon  himself  should  direct. 

"  Fourth,  Every  Sovereign  in  command  of  an  army 
enjoys  advantages  against  him  who  exercises  only 
a  delegated  power,  and  who  acts  under  orders  and 
responsibilities.  But  Napoleon  enjoyed  more  ad- 
vantages than  any  other  Sovereign  that  ever 
appeared.  His  presence,  as  stated  by  me  more 
than  once,  was  likely  not  only  to  give  to  the 
French  army,  as  above  detailed,  but  to  put  an  end 


DUKE    OF    MARLBOROUGH  313 

to  all  the  jealousies  of  the  French  marshals  and 
their  counteractions  of  each  other,  whether  founded 
upon  bad  principles  and  passions  or  their  fierce 
differences  of  opinion.  The  French  army  thus  had 
a  unity  of  action.  These  four  considerations  in- 
duced me  to  say  that  his  presence  ought  to  be  con- 
sidered as  40,000  men  in  the  scale  ;  but  the  idea  is 
obviously  very  loose,  as  must  be  seen  by  a  moment's 
reflection. 

"  If  the  two  armies  opposed  to  each  other  were 
40,000  men  on  each  side,  his  presence  could  not  be 
equal  to  a  reinforcement  of  40,000  men  to  the 
French  army,  or  even  if  there  were  60,000  men  on 
each  side,  or  possibly  80,000  men  on  each  side.  It 
is  clear,  however,  that  wherever  he  went  he  carried 
with  him  an  obvious  advantage.  I  don't  think  I 
ought  to  be  quoted  as  calling  that  advantage  as 
equal  to  a  reinforcement  of  40,000  men  under  all 
possible  circumstances. 

"  I  quite  agree  that  the  Duke  of  Marlborough  is 
the  greatest  man  that  ever  appeared  at  the  head  of 
a  British  army.  He  had  greater  difliculties  to  con- 
tend with  in  respect  of  his  operations,  and  the 
command  of  his  troops  in  the  field,  than  I  had.  I 
had  no  Dutch  deputies  to  control  my  movements  or 
intentions,  whether  to  fight  or  otherwise.  But,  on 
the  other  hand,  I  had  armies  to  co-operate  with  me, 
upon  whose  operations  I  could  not  reckon  owing  to 
the  defective  state  of  their  discipline  and  their 
equipments,  and  their  deficiencies  of  all  kinds.     I 


314      REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

could  not  rely  on  10,000  of  them  doing  what  500 
ought  to  do.  The  Duke  of  Marlborough  did  not 
labour  under  these  disadvantages.  Then  again  the 
Duke  of  Marlborough  carried  on  his  operations  in 
countries  fully  peopled,  according  to  their  extent. 
He  never  experienced  any  inconvenience  from  the 
warnt  of  supplies  of  provisions.  It  was  impossible 
to  move  at  all  in  the  Peninsula  without  previously 
concerted  arrangements  for  the  supply  of  the  troops 
with  provisions,  means  of  transport,  etc.  The  Duke 
of  Marlborough's  difficulties  were  greater  than  mine 
in  relation  to  his  own  operations — mine  were  greater 
than  his  in  every  other  respect. 

"  But  this  is  not  all.  The  Duke  of  Marlborough 
generally,  if  not  always,  commanded  an  army 
superior  to  his  enemy  in  the  field.  The  army 
commanded  by  me  was  always  inferior,  not  only  in 
reference  to  the  description  of  troops,  but  even  in 
numbers." 

Lord  Stanhope,  it  would  appear,  in  writing  to  the 
Duke,  had  censured  the  King's  Government  for 
failing  to  support  the  commander  in  the  field  as 
they  ought  to  have  done.  The  Duke  thus  deals 
with  the  allegation  : — 

"But  that  which  I  particularly  object  to  is  the 
last  paragraph.  I  have  always  in  j)ublic,  as  well 
as  in  private,  declared  my  obligation  to  the  Govern- 
ment for  the  encouragement  and  support  which 
they  gave  me,  and  the  confidence  with  which  they 
treated  me. 


THE   GOVERNMENT   OF   THE    REGENCY  315 

"  I  was  not  the  Government  as  the  Duke  of 
Marlborough  was,  nor  were  all  the  resources  of 
the  nation  at  my  command  to  carry  on  the  war 
which  I  was  conducting  as  the  resources  of  Great 
Britain  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne,  military,  naval, 
political,  and  financial,  were  at  the  command  of  the 
Duke  of  Marlborough.  The  nation  at  that  time 
were  heart  and  hand  bent  upon  carrying  on  that 
war.  France  was  not  then  so  powerful  as  she  was 
from  1808  to  1814.  England  was  not  threatened 
with  invasion.  It  was  not  necessary  to  protect 
society  with  an  army  of  20,000  men  of  the  best 
troops.  The  United  States  had  not  been  formed, 
and  it  was  not  necessary  to  defend  our  vital  interests 
on  the  continent  of  America  against  their  attacks. 

"  The  resources  of  the  country  then,  instead  of 
being  exclusively  devoted  to  carrying  on  the  war 
which  I  conducted,  were  invariably  devoted  to 
other  objects. 

"Besides  all  this,  there  was  a  formidable  opposi- 
tion to  the  Government  in  Parliament  which 
opposed  itself  particularly  to  the  operations  of  the 
war  in  the  Peninsula.  It  would  not  be  fair  to 
compare  the  conduct  of  the  Government  of  the 
Begency  in  relation  to  the  war  which  I  conducted 
with  the  conduct  of  the  Government  in  the  reign 
of  Queen  Anne.  I  cannot,  and  never  have  com- 
plained of  them ;  and  I  should  not  like  to  say  that 
I  supported  the  Government  more  than  they, 
supported  me. 


316      REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

"  It  is  quite  certain  that  my  opinion  alone  was 
the  cause  of  the  continuance  of  the  war  in  the 
Peninsula.  My  letters  show  that  I  encouraged, 
nay,  forced  the  Government  to  persevere  in  it. 
The  successes  of  the  operations  of  the  army  sup- 
ported them  in  power.  But  it  is  not  true  that 
they  did  not  in  every  way  in  their  power,  as 
members  and  as  a  Government,  support  me." 

Nothing  can  be  more  characteristic  of  the  Duke 
than  both  this  chivalrous  attempt  to  cover  the 
shortcomings  of  the  Government  which  he  served 
and  the  modest  preference  which  as  a  military 
commander  he  gives  to  Marlborough  over  himself. 
I  do  not  however  believe  that  history  approves 
his  decision.  The  Government  which  he  served 
was  the  feeblest  that  had  guided  the  destinies  of 
England  since  England  became  a  first-rate  power. 
And  the  difiiculties  which  beset  Marlborough, 
though  grave,  were  far  less  serious  than  those 
which  Wellington  encountered  and  overcame. 
Both  were  brave  men ;  it  would  be  hard  to  say 
which  was  the  bravest. 

The  discussion  of  questions  such  as  these  calls  to 
mind  the  Duke's  steady  refusal  to  hand  over  his 
papers,  either  to  Southey,  when  engaged  on  the 
history  of  the  war  in  Spain  and  Portugal,  or  to 
W.  Mudford,  who  desired  to  become  the  historian 
of  the  Waterloo  campaign.  Napier  likewise  applied 
to  him,  and  was,  like  the  others,  refused.  But  while 
declining  to   permit  information  in  this  way,  the 


HIS    AID    TO    NAPIER  317 

Duke  caused  Napier  to  be  informed  that  any 
question  he  might  wish  to  put  viva  voce  would  viva 
voce  be  answered.  The  consequence  was  that 
Napier  hired  apartments  in  the  Wellington  Arms, 
a  neat  little  inn  which  abuts  upon  one  of  the 
entrances  to  Stratfieldsaye  Park,  and  being  in- 
vited to  dine  with  the  Duke  every  day  so  long 
as  the  Duke  remained  in  Hampshire,  he  learnt 
more  in  conversations  with  the  great  man  than  he 
would  probably  have  been  able  to  condense  from 
the  most  careful  study  of  many  boxfuls  of  papers. 
Napier  attacked  me  furiously  for  having  stated  in 
The  Hussar  that  intelligence  of  the  approach  of 
Junot's  army  was  carried  to  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley 
by  Sergeant  Landshit  of  the  23rd  Dragoons.  Lands- 
hit  was  a  German,  and  the  Duke,  it  would  appear, 
had  told  Napier  that  a  German  officer  of  dragoons 
was  the  bearer  of  the  tidings.  One  would  have 
thought  that  the  point  was  scarcely  worth  disput- 
ing about,  especially  as  I  wrote  down  what  is  stated 
in  The  Hussar  from  Landshit's  lips.  But  Napier 
was  intolerant  of  contradiction,  and  though  shown 
that  the  official  state  of  the  army  at  Vienna  did 
not  contain  the  name  of  a  sino;le  commissioned 
German  officer,  he  persisted  in  his  charge,  very 
unbecomingly  worded,  of  false  statements  on  my 
part.  This,  however,  is  a  matter  of  no  moment. 
Napier's  great  work  has  taken  its  place  among 
our  great  English  classics,  and  though  we  are 
bound  to  believe  the  Duke  when  he  savs  he  never 


318       REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

read  the  book,  we  are  at  the  same  time  left  with- 
out ground  to  question  the  general  accuracy  of  the 
historian's  narrative. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  the  Duke's  im- 
patience of  interruption  when  occupied  with 
important  business.  Get  him  to  make  an 
appointment  with  you,  and  whatever  might  be 
the  inconvenience  to  which  the  arrangement 
put  him,  he  saw  you  at  the  time  fixed,  and 
discussed  patiently  whatever  questions  might  arise. 
But  break  in  upon  him  without  any  previous 
warning,  and  the  chances  were  ten  to  one  that  you 
found  reason  to  repent  it.  Once,  and  only  once, 
this  happened  to  myself.  The  master  of  a 
trading  vessel,  a  native  of  Deal,  was  desirous  of 
becoming  a  Cinque  Ports  pilot.  I  made  the 
closest  inquiries  about  him,  and  found  that  in 
every  respect  he  w^as  a  deserving  object.  I  do 
not  now  recollect  whether  these  inquiries  were 
made  by  the  Duke's  desire.  My  impression  is  that 
such  was  the  case.  But  be  this  as  it  may,  the 
Duke  accepted  him  as  a  candidate,  and  after  pass- 
ing through  the  customary  examination  before  the 
Court  of  Load  Manage  he  was  pronounced  qualified 
and  virtually  appointed.  Some  delay  occurred, 
however,  in  making  out  his  warrant,  and  the  ship 
of  which  he  still  retained  the  command  was  getting 
ready  for  sea.  The  poor  fellow  was  naturally  dis- 
inclined to  throw  up  one  situation  before  being  sure 
of  another,  and  so  pressed  me  to  speak  to  the  Duke 


A    CHARACTERISTIC   TRAIT  319 

upon  the  subject  that  I  could  not  well  refuse.  I 
knocked  at  the  great  man's  door,  and  entered  his 
room  as  I  had  often  done  before.  He  was  writinor, 
and  looked  up,  expecting,  no  doubt,  that  I  had 
something  of  importance  to  communicate.  But 
when  I  mentioned  the  ship  captain  and  his  case, 
the  Duke  sat  bolt  upright,  looked  me  full  in  the 
face,  and  said  in  an  angry  tone  :  "  Tell  him  I  shall 
do  my  own  business  in  my  own  way."  That  was 
all.  I  withdrew  at  once,  vexed  with  myself,  and, 
in  a  less  degree  perhaps,  w4th  the  Duke,  and  the 
pilot  also.  It  happened  that  I  was  at  that  time 
the  sole  guest  at  Walmer  Castle,  and  when  we  met 
at  luncheon  the  Duke's  manner  appeared  to  me 
more  than  usually  kind.  "  I  am  going  to  drive  to 
Kamsgate  this  afternoon,"  he  said;  "wall  you  go 
with  me  ? "  And  then  followed  the  conversation 
which  stands  recorded  elsewhere.  I  refer  to  the 
incident  here  because  it  illustrates  that  trait  in  the 
Duke's  character  which  I  never  saw  so  strongly 
marked  in  any  other  man.  It  seemed  to  be  a 
settled  principle  with  him  never  to  acknowledge 
that  he  had  done  wrong.  But  sooner  or  later  he 
made  amends  for  whatever  wrong  was  done  by  a 
process  which,  though  indirect,  was  infinitely  more 
agreeable  to  the  sufferer  than  any  apology  could 
have  been.  He  sent  poor  Hamsay  home  from  Spain 
for  disobeying  orders  under  circumstances  which, 
with  any  other  general,  would  have  been  accepted 
as  excusing  the   act.     He  took  care,  however,  to 


320      REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

get  Bamsay  attached  to  the  army  that  fought  at 
Waterloo,  where  he  was  killed.  If  a  name  were 
omitted  from  a  dispatch  which  ought  to  have 
figured  there,  neither  entreaty  nor  argument  could 
prevail  upon  him  to  write  a  supplement.  But  he 
never  failed  on  some  subsequent  occasion  to  do 
justice,  perhaps  more  than  justice,  to  the  merits  of 
the  slighted  individual.  So  it  was  on  the  present 
occasion.  He  expressed  no  regret  whatever  for 
having  wounded  my  feelings,  but  made  amends  for 
the  pain  I  had  suffered  by  the  marked  kindness  of 
his  manner  throughout  the  drive. 

The  Duke  was  a  very  considerate  landowner. 
He  put  every  farm  situated  on  his  estate  in  good 
order,  and  in  all  cases  advised  and  encouraged 
his  tenants  to  farm  highly,  and  for  the  exten- 
sive outlay  necessary  to  promote  these  ends  he 
used  to  account  by  saying,  "  I  have  resources  which 
will  die  with  me  ;  and  I  must  therefore  do  what  I 
can  to  improve  the  property  for  those  who  come 
after  me."  On  the  other  hand,  he  had  the  greatest 
disinclination  to  fell  timber,  even  where  the  growth 
had  become  rank  and  the  oaks  were  deteriorating. 
This,  however,  was  not  the  result  of  pure  prejudice. 
The  Act  of  Parliament,  which  settles  on  the  Dukes 
of  Wellington  for  ever  the  lands  which  were  pur- 
chased by  public  grant,  requires  that  a  portion  of 
whatever  money  may  accrue  from  the  felling  of 
timber  shall  be  set  aside  to  provide  for  the  younger 
branches  of  the  ducal  family.     The  Duke  had  more 


HIS    SECRETIVENESS  321 

than  he  considered  to  be  sufficient  for  his  younger 
son.  He  therefore  left  the  oaks  and  elms  standing 
for  the  benefit  of  the  junior  members,  should  either 
of  his  sons  have  a  family. 

There  was  united  in  the  Duke  to  great  frankness 
of  manner,  which  prompted  him  to  speak  out  on 
many  occasions  when  most  men  of  his  position 
would  have  been  cautious,  if  not  reserved,  an 
amount  of  secretiveness  quite  peculiar  to  himself. 
State  secrets  he  of  course  knew  well  how  to  keep, 
and  confidences  reposed  in  him  by  others  he  never 
betrayed.  But  the  commonest  transactions  of  daily 
life  he  often  invested  with  an  air  of  mystery  which 
it  was  hard  to  account  for.  To  such  an  extent  was 
this  feeling  on  more  than  one  occasion  indulged 
that  I  shall  not  be  angry  with  my  readers  if  they 
hesitate  to  believe  what  I  am  going  to  write.  He 
entertained  great  respect  for  land  as  an  investment. 
He  believed  that  it  would  rise  higher  and  higher  in 
price,  and  fancying  that  much  more  would  be  de- 
manded of  the  Duke  of  Wellincrton  than  from  a 
private  person,  he  instructed  his  solicitor  to  pur- 
chase an  estate  in  Norfolk  in  his  own  name.  This 
was  done  ;  and  it  was  only  after  the  great  Duke's 
death  that  his  son,  being  in  the  hands  of  an  honour- 
able man,  found  himself  lord  of  v^aluable  property 
which,  had  the  solicitor  chosen  to  play  the  rogue, 
might  have  been  held  by  himself  and  his  heirs 
during  pleasure. 

The  Duke,  as  I  have  elsewhere  stated,  went  very 


322      REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

much,  during  the  London  season,  into  society.  No 
ball  or  rout  was  considered  perfect  unless  he  was 
present  at  it,  and  to  balls  and  routs  he  went  because 
— as  I  have  often  heard  him  say — he  felt  himself 
bound  in  this,  as  in  all  other  of  his  proceedings,  to 
gratify,  as  far  as  he  could,  the  British  public.  He 
himself  had  little  taste  for  them,  yet  he  made  him- 
self agreeable  to  all  who  approached  him,  and  was 
not  unfrequently  crowded  upon,  especially  by  ladies. 
He  had  his  favourite  resorts,  too,  one  of  which  was 
the  house  in  Stratton  Street,  whenever  Lady,  then 
Miss,  Burdett-Coutts,  dispensed  her  generous  hospi- 
talities. For  among  his  many  admirers  none  more 
truly  admired  him  than  she,  nor  had  she,  in  all  her 
extensive  acquaintance,  one  who  held  her  in  higher 
esteem  than  he. 

What  follows,  in  smaller  type,  is  taken  from  my 
Life  of  Wellington,  changed  slightly  only. 

Of  the  Duke's  habits  of  patient  industry  it  may  well 
appear  supertiuous  to  speak.  We  have  seen  how  in  India, 
in  the  Spanish  peninsula,  and  in  France,  hours  which 
others  would  have  devoted  to  necessary  repose  were  spent 
by  him  in  toil.  And  as  if  all  this  had  not  been  sufficient 
to  tax  his  energies  fully,  he  seems  to  have  made  copies  of 
many  of  his  own  letters,  and  to  have  arranged  and 
docketed  them  all.  This,  indeed,  was  a  practice  which 
he  appears  very  early  to  have  begun,  as  if  there  had  been 
present  with  him  from  the  outset  a  conviction  that  his 
name  would  sooner  or  later  become  historical,  and  that 
means  ought  to  be  at  hand  of  connecting  it  only  with  the 
truths  of  history.  And  he  never  abandoned  the  habit  to 
the  end.     Boxes  of  his  papers,  chronologically  arranged, 


HIS   SELF-POSSESSION  323 

Stood  in  their  proper  order  at  Apsley  House  when  he 
died,  and  stand  there  still.  When  re-examined  and  re- 
sorted, a  process  to  which  the  filial  piety  of  his  son  is  now 
subjecting  them,  they  will  account,  in  a  great  degree,  for 
the  manner  in  which  every  day  of  the  Duke's  long  life 
was  spent. 

A  volume  might  be  filled  with  anecdotes  illustrative  of 
various  traits  in  the  Duke's  character;  his  perfect  self- 
possession  in  moments  of  difficulty  and  danger,  his  kindly 
disposition,  his  wit,  and  severe  wisdom. 

Of  his  self-possession  on  the  field  of  battle  I  have  given 
in  the  course  of  this  narrative  several  examples.  Many 
more  might  be  added  did  the  occasion  require;  for  no 
event  in  war  appeared  to  take  him  by  surprise,  no  blunder 
on  the  part  of  his  subordinates  discomposed  him.  He 
was  equally  calm  and  collected  on  other  occasions  less 
in  unison,  as  might  be  assumed,  with  his  professional 
habits.  He  never  went  to  sea  Avithout  encountering  a 
storm ;  he  never  in  the  wildest  hurricane  exhibited  the 
smallest  token  of  alarm.  At  the  opening  of  the  Liverpool 
and  Manchester  Railway — an  experiment,  as  was  believed, 
full  of  peril — he  put  himself  with  child-like  docility  into 
the  hands  of  the  engineers,  and  kept  his  seat,  as  they 
requested  him  to  do,  till  the  accident  to  Mr.  Huskisson 
stopped  the  train.  He  was  the  first  to  reach  the  wounded 
man,  and  to  speak  words  of  comfort  to  him.  Indeed  he 
would  have  put  a  stop  to  the  pageant,  had  it  not  been 
explained  to  him  that  great  public  inconvenience  would 
have  been  the  consequence.  We  have  seen  how  he  bore 
himself  when  threatened  with  assassination  on  the  King's 
highway,  and  mobbed  and  assaulted  in  the  streets  of 
London ;  and  as  he  was  then,  so  he  invariably  appeared 
amid  the  bitterest  struggles  and  perplexities  of  political 
life. 

The  Duke's  wit  was   sometimes  caustic   enough,  but 


324      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

never  ill  -  natured.  A  gentleman,  not  remarkable  for 
always  saying  the  right  thing  at  the  right  moment, 
happened  to  dine  in  his  company  one  day,  and  during 
a  pause  in  the  conversation,  asked  abruptly:  "Duke, 
weren't  you  surprised  at  Waterloo  ? "  "  No,"  was  the 
answer,  delivered  with  a  smile,  "  but  I  am  now."  When 
Sir  De  Lacy  Evans'  operations  were  going  on  near  St. 
Sebastian,  the  question  was  put,  "  What  will  all  this 
produce  ? "  "  Probably,"  replied  the  Duke,  "  two  volumes 
in  octavo."  In  1815  the  Commissioners  for  the  pro- 
visional government  in  France  announced  to  him  gravely 
that  the  empire  was  at  an  end.  "  I  knew  that  a  year 
ago."  A  Colonial  bishop  having  remonstrated  with  the 
Secretary  of  State  because  military  guards  were  not 
turned  out  and  instructed  to  salute  him,  the  minister 
sent  the  letter  to  the  Duke,  who  returned  it  with  this 
remark  upon  the  margin :  "  The  only  attention  which 
soldiers  are  to  pay  to  the  bishop  must  be  to  his  sermons." 
Sometimes  the  Duke's  mots  hit  harder  than  he  intended 
them  to  do.  The  late  Sir  William  Allan  used  to  tell 
with  great  glee,  that  being  sent  for  to  receive  the  price 
of  his  picture  of  the  Battle  of  Waterloo,  he  found  the 
Duke  counting  over  whole  piles  of  bank  notes.  Sir 
William,  anxious  to  save  the  Duke's  time,  ventured  to 
observe  that  a  cheque  upon  his  Grace's  banker  would 
serve  the  purpose  quite  as  well  as  notes.  Whereupon 
the  Duke,  not  over  and  above  delighted  with  the  inter- 
ruption, looked  up  and  said,  "  Do  you  think  I  am  going 
to  let  Coutts'  people  know  what  a  d — d  fool  I  've  been  ? " 
A  cavalry  regiment  being  suddenly  ordered  to  the  Cape, 
one  of  the  officers,  not  remarkable  for  zeal  in  the  per- 
formance of  his  duties,  applied  for  leave  to  exchange. 
The  memorandum  was  this  :  "  He  must  sail  or  sell." 

Of  his  kindly  disposition,  the  following  are  manifesta- 
tions. An  old  gentleman  of  the  name  of  Robertson 
desired  one  day  particularly  to  see  him.     He  was  ad- 


HIS   GENTLENESS  325 

mitted  to  an  audience,  and  stated  that  he  did  not  expect 
to  live  long,  but  could  not  die  in  peace  without  seeing  the 
Duke,  and  that  he  had  travelled  from  Scotland  for  that 
single  purpose.  Touched  with  the  old  man's  manner,  the 
Duke  not  only  expressed  his  own  gratification,  but  begged 
Mr.  Robertson  to  stay  and  dine  with  him.  "  Many 
thanks,"  replied  the  old  Scot,  "  I  can't  do  that.  I  have 
seen  your  Grace,  and  have  now  nothing  more  in  this 
world  to  wish  for,"  and  so  withdrew. 

He  was  walking  one  day  in  the  streets  of  a  manufac- 
turing town,  when  an  operative  accosted,  and  desired 
permission  to  shake  hands  with  him.  "  Certainly," 
replied  the  Duke,  "  I  am  always  happy  to  shake  hands 
with  an  honest  man." 

He  never  met,  in  his  rides  and  walks  among  the  lanes 
near  Walmer  or  Stratstieldsaye,  any  poor  man  who  claimed 
to  have  served  under  him  without  giving  him  a  sovereign. 
He  used  to  laugh  at  himself  for  doing  so,  and  acknow- 
ledged that  it  was  ten  to  one  against  the  object  of  his 
bounty  deserving  it ;  but  nothing  would  induce  him  to 
omit  the  practice. 

But  perhaps  the  most  touching  testimony  to  his  gentle- 
ness is  that  which  Mr.  Richard  Oastler,  the  great  and 
honest  mob  orator,  has  placed  on  record.  Describing  an 
interview  to  which  the  Duke  admitted  him,  and  his  own 
embarrassment  when  he  found  himself  closeted  with  the 
hero  of  the  age,  Mr.  Oastler  continues :  "  On  that  space  " 
(a  space  free  from  papers  on  the  sofa),  '"  at  the  bidding 
of  the  Duke,  I  sat.  His  Grace  standing  before  me,  said : 
'  Well,  Mr.  Oastler,  what  is  it  you  wish  to  say  to  me  ? ' 
I  observed, '  It  is  very  strange  that  I  should  sit  while  the 
Duke  of  Wellington  stands,  and  in  Apsley  House  too.' 
'  Oh,'  said  his  Grace,  '  if  you  think  so,  and  if  it  will  please 
you  better,  I  '11  sit.'  So  saying,  he  took  a  seat  on  an  easy- 
chair,  between  the  sofa  and  the  fireplace.  I  was  then 
desired   to    proceed.      Being  strangely   affected   with   a 


326      REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

reception  so  very  different  from  that  anticipated,  I  ex- 
pressed my  surprise,  and  craved  the  Duke's  indulgence. 
Placing  his  right  hand  on  my  right  shoulder,  his  Grace 
said :  '  We  shall  never  get  on  if  you  are  embarrassed. 
Forget  that  you  are  here;  fancy  yourself  talking  with 
one  of  your  neighbours  at  Fixby,  and  proceed.' " 

It  is  not  worth  while  to  transcribe  more  of  what  passed 
between  them ;  but  the  result  must  be  given  in  Mr. 
Oastler's  words.  "  In  a  short  time  I  returned  to  Hudders- 
field,  met  thousands  of  people  at  an  out-door  assembly, 
and  told  them  all  that  the  Duke  of  Wellington  had  told 
me.     Oh,  how  they  cheered  1 " 

The  Duke's  wisdom,  like  that  of  other  wise  men,  was 
shown  more  in  his  life  than  in  his  conversation;  yet 
certain  sayings  of  his  have  passed  into  aphorisms,  and 
will  never  be  forgotten  while  the  English  language  exists. 
Here  are  a  few  of  them : — 

"  A  great  country  ought  never  to  make  little  wars." 

"  Be  discreet  in  all  things,  and  so  render  it  unnecessary 
to  be  mysterious  about  any." 

"  The  history  of  a  battle  is  just  like  the  history  of 
a  ball." 

"Animosity  among  nations  ought  to  cease  when  hos- 
tilities come  to  an  end." 

"  He  is  most  to  blame  who  breaks  the  law,  no 
matter  what  the  provocation  may  be  under  which  he 
acts." 

"  One  country  has  no  right  to  interfere  in  the  internal 
affairs  of  another.  Non-intervention  is  the  law,  inter- 
vention is  only  the  exception." 

The  Duke  dined  one  day  in  Paris  with  M.  Cambaceres, 
one  of  the  most  renowned  gourmets  of  France.  The  host 
having  pressed  a  recherche  dish  upon  the  Duke,  asked 
eagerly,  when  the  plate  was  cleared,  how  he  had  liked  it. 
"  It  was  excellent,"  replied  the  Duke  ;  "  but  to  tell  you  the 
truth,  I  don't  care  much  what  I  eat."     "Good  heavens!" 


HIS  GOOD  FORTUNE  IN  BATTLE       327 

exclaimed  Cambaceres, '  don't  care  what  you  eat !     Why 
then  did  you  come  here  ? " 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  in  this  great  man's  history,  that 
though  always  ready,  often  too  ready,  to  expose  himself  in 
action,  he  never  received  a  wound  which  left  u  scar  behind. 
At  Seringapatam,  as  his  Indian  correspondence  shows,  a 
bullet  tore  the  cloth  of  his  over-alls  and  grazed  his  knee. 
Again  at  Orthes,  a  spent  ball  struck  him  so  sharply  as  to 
unhorse  him.  On  this  latter  occasion  he  was  watching 
the  progress  of  the  battle — General  Alava  sitting  on  horse- 
back near  him — when  a  musket-ball  struck  the  Spaniard 
severely  on  that  part  of  the  person,  any  injury  done  to 
which  is  the  occasion  more  frequently  of  mirth  than  of 
commiseration.  The  Duke,  as  was  to  be  expected,  laughed 
at  Alava,  but  had  not  long  enjoyed  his  joke,  when  another 
ball,  after  hitting  the  guard  of  his  own  sword,  glanced  oii, 
and  gave  him  such  a  blow  as  caused  him  to  spring  from 
his  saddle  and  fall  to  the  ground.  He  got  up,  rubbed  the 
part,  laughed  again,  but  rather  more  faintly,  remounted, 
and  went  through  the  action  ;  but  for  several  days  after- 
wards he  was  unable  to  ride,  and  suftered  great  pain. 

It  is  almost  more  singular  that  he  who  carried  on  war 
in  so  many  parts  of  the  world  should  never  have  lost 
a  gun  to  the  enemy.  "  Returning  with  him  one  day 
from  the  hunting-tield,"  says  Lord  EUesmere,  "  I  asked 
him  whether  he  could  form  any  calculation  of  the  number 
of  guns  he  had  taken  in  the  course  of  his  career."  "  No," 
he  replied,  "  not  with  any  accuracy ;  somewhere  about 
three  thousand,  I  should  guess.  At  Oporto,  after  the 
passage  of  the  Douro,  I  took  the  entire  siege-train  of  the 
enemy ;  at  Vittoria  and  Waterloo  I  took  every  gun  they 
had  in  the  field.  What,  however,  is  more  extraordinary 
is,  I  don't  think  I  ever  lost  a  gun  in  my  life.  After  the 
battle  of  Salamanca,"  he  went  on  to  explain, "  three  of  my 
guns  attached  to  some  Portuguese  cavalry  were  captured 
in  a  trifling  afi'air  near  Madrid,  but  they  were  recovered 


328       REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

the  next  day.  In  the  Pyrenees,  Lord  Hill  found  himself 
obliged  to  throw  eight  or  nine  guns  over  a  precipice ;  but 
those  also  were  recovered,  and  never  fell  into  the  enemy's 
hands  at  all." 

Though  pretending  to  no  eminence  either  in  scholar- 
ship or  science,  the  Duke  entertained  the  greatest  respect 
for  both.  On  two  separate  occasions  he  expressed  a  desire 
to  be  elected  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society.  At  first  his 
meaning  appears  scarcely  to  have  been  understood,  but 
the  wish  being  repeated,  the  Royal  Society  at  once,  and 
with  peculiar  satisfaction,  received  him  among  its  Fellows. 
He  was  proposed  by  the  late  Marquis  of  Northampton, 
and  seconded  by  Sir  Robert  Harry  Inglis ;  and  he  seems 
to  have  been  better  pleased  with  this  distinction  than 
with  many  others  conferred  upon  him  by  the  sovereigns 
and  peoples  whom  he  had  served.  Again  we  find  him 
brought  into  contrast  with  Napoleon,  in  a  matter  where, 
at  first  sight,  it  might  appear  that  there  was  only 
parallelism.  "  I  knew  what  I  was  about,"  said  the  French 
Emperor,  "  when  I  caused  myself  to  be  elected  member 
of  the  Institute.  Our  soldiers  follow  me,  not  because 
I  am  brave,  but  because  they  believe  me  to  be  a  man  of 
genius  and  well  read." 

The  Duke's  eye  for  a  country  was,  as  may  be  imagined, 
singularly  accurate.  He  could  take  in  at  a  glance  all  the 
features  of  any  landscape  through  which  he  rode.  And — 
which  was,  perhaps,  more  remarkable — he  seemed  intui- 
tively to  divine  the  lie  of  a  district  beyond  the  limits  to 
which  his  gaze  extended.  This  was  shown  upon  one 
occasion  in  rather  a  curious  way. 

He  was  going  to  visit  a  friend  in  Rutlandshire,  and 
finding  that  Mr.  Croker  had  received  an  invitation  to  the 
same  house,  he  oti'ered  him  a  seat  in  his  carriage.  The 
offer  was  accepted,  and  the  two  travellers,  after  exhausting 
other  topics,  began  to  amuse  themselves  by  guessing  at 
the  nature  of  the  country  which  lay  on  the  farther  side 


HIS    MEMORY  329 

of  various  ranges  of  hill  and  down  as  they  approached 
them.  The  Duke's  guesses  proved  on  all  occasions  to  be 
so  correct,  that  Mr.  Croker  at  last  demanded  the  reason. 
"  The  reason  ? "  replied  the  Duke.  "  Why  what  have 
I  been  doing  for  the  greater  part  of  my  lite,  except  that 
which  we  are  doing  now — trying  to  make  out  from  what 
I  saw  the  shape  of  the  country  which  I  could  not  see  ?  " 

Strange  to  say,  however,  the  same  man,  whose  faculties 
enabled  him  thus  to  draw  inferences  almost  always  correct 
in  regard  to  great  matters,  was  remarkable  for  his  blunders 
in  small  matters  of  the  same  sort.  The  Duke  was  noted 
for  losing  his  way  not  only  when  riding  back  after  recon- 
naissances before  the  enemy,  but  when  returning  home 
from  the  hunting-tield  near  Stratfieldsaye. 

Of  the  great  tenacity  of  the  Duke's  memory  notice  has 
been  taken  elsewhere.  It  never  forsook  him  to  the  last. 
In  1843,  when  the  terror  of  the  Seikli  invasion  was  at 
its  height,  he  was  requested  by  the  Government  of  the 
day  to  draw  up  a  plan  for  the  defence  of  India.  This 
paper  or  memorandum  he  read  "  with  great  emphasis  " 
to  Lord  Ellesmere,  who  says :  "  It  embraced  all  three 
Presidencies,  and  was  full  of  geographical  details.  It  had 
been  written,  as  he  told  me,  without  reference  either  to 
a  map  or  a  gazetteer." 

It  was  soon  after  this,  that  when  called  upon  to  name 
three  officers,  one  of  whom  might  be  selected  to  go  out 
as  Lord  Gough's  successor  in  command  of  the  army,  he 
wrote,  "  Sir  Charles  Napier,  Sir  Charles  Napier,  Sir 
Charles  Napier." 

I  must  bring  these  anecdotes  to  an  end.  Hundreds 
more,  equally  characteristic,  are  doul)tless  in  circulation, 
every  one  of  which  deserves  its  own  place  here ;  but 
already  the  limits  at  my  command  are  passed,  the  subject 
remaining  still  unexhausted.  If  told  in  detail,  they  could 
scarcely  add  to  the  measure  of  admiration  in  which,  by 
all  who  know  how  to  value  real  greatness,  the  memory  of 


330      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

the  Duke  of  Wellington  is  held.  He  was  the  grandest, 
because  the  truest  man,  whom  modern  times  have 
produced.  He  Avas  the  wisest  and  most  103'^al  subject 
that  ever  served  and  supported  the  English  throne. 

The  Duke  took  the  fjreatest  interest  in  Colonel 
Garwood's  first  publication.  He  was  a  good  deal 
startled  when  Gurwood  proposed  to  collect  and 
give  to  the  public  his  general  orders,  but  having 
overcome  the  reluctance  to  appear  in  print  at  all, 
he  soon  entered  into  the  spirit  of  the  undertaking, 
and  gave  Gurwood  all  the  assistance  required. 
Then  followed  a  proposal  to  deal  in  like  manner 
with  a  selection  from  his  dispatches  to  which, 
with  less  hesitation,  he  assented,  not,  however, 
without  stipulating  that  whatever  tended  to  throw 
discredit  on  individuals  should  be  suppressed.  How 
faithfully  his  directions  were  attended  to,  all  who 
perused  Gurwood's  compilations  must  be  aware. 
But  only  those  who  were  on  intimate  terms  with 
the  great  man  know  with  what  childlike  delight  he 
read  liis  own  writings  over,  and  how  astonished  he 
was  at  both  their  multiplicity  and  clearness. 

**  I  can't  think,"  he  would  say,  as  he  laid  down 
some  documents  more  striking  than  others,  "  I  can't 
think  how  I  ever  got  time  or  had  wit  enough  to 
write  that."  Had  he  lived  to  see  the  still  more 
voluminous  selection,  now  accessible  to  the  whole 
world,  his  modest  astonishment  would  have  been 
increased  fourfold. 

The  Duke,  as  an  official,  was  a  great  stickler  for 


A    STICKLER   FOR   ETIQUETTE  331 

etiquette.  He  held  that  in  matters  affecting  the 
pubHc  interest  too  much  courtesy  could  not 
be  exercised  in  approaching  questions  on  which 
differences  of  opinion  had  occurred,  and  in  his 
intercourse  with  the  Court  his  bearing  was  almost 
more  than  respectful.  As  Commander-in-Chief  he 
could  not  tolerate  the  slightest  infringement  on 
standing  orders.  In  particular,  he  objected  to 
officers  ever  appearing,  except  in  London,  out  of 
uniform,  unless  absent  from  their  regiments,  or 
engaged  in  field  sports.  A  story  is  told  of  his 
visiting  Dover  Castle  on  one  occasion  in  his 
capacity  of  Warden  of  the  Cinque  Ports,  and 
sending  for  the  officer  in  command  of  the  garrison 
that  he  might  confer  with  him.  The  officer  com- 
manding happened  to  be  his  son,  Lord  Douro,  who, 
anxious  not  to  keep  his  father  waiting,  hurried  out 
of  his  room  in  a  dressing-gown  and  slippers.  The 
Duke  took  no  notice  of  the  circumstance  at  the  time, 
but  on  the  second  day  after  the  Duke's  visit  Lord 
Douro  received  an  official  communication  from  the 
Horse  Guards,  sharply  reproving  him  for  having 
forgotten  what  was  due  to  the  Governor  of  Dover 
Castle,  and  desiring  that  he  should  be  more  careful 
in  future.  The  Lord  Warden  had,  it  appears,  re- 
ported Lord  Douro's  misbehaviour,  through  the 
Adjutant  -  General,  to  the  Commander  -  in  -  Chief, 
and  hence  the  censure  that  followed. 

Whether  there  be  any   foundation    for  another 
anecdote — which   describes   the    Duke   as    passing 


332       REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

his  son  in  the  streets  of  Dover  unnoticed  because 
he  was  in  coloured  clothes — I  cannot  say ;  but  for 
this  I  can  vouch,  that  Lord  Douro  never  came  from 
Dover  to  Walmer  Castle  except  in  uniform,  and 
that  only  in  their  uniforms  were  the  officers  both 
of  that  and  the  garrison  of  Deal  received  at  the 
Duke's  table. 

The  Duke  was  for  some  years  after  taking  posses- 
sion of  Stratfieldsaye  a  strict  preserver  of  game. 
He  delighted  in  offering  good  sport  to  his  guests. 
Among  them  were  all  the  most  illustrious  members 
of  society,  such  as  the  Duke  of  York,  the  Cabinet 
Ministers,  Foreign  Ambassadors,  and  so  forth ; 
and  neither  care  nor  expense  was  spared  to  keep 
his  coverts  well  stocked.  All  went  well  for  a 
while,  and  poaching,  if  it  occurred  at  all,  was  on 
a  scale  too  diminutive  to  attract  attention.  At 
last,  however,  the  coverts  were  invaded  in  force, 
and  in  the  struggle  which  ensued  one  of  the 
keepers  was  killed.  From  that  day  the  Duke 
gave  orders  that  the  stock  of  game  should  be 
gradually  diminished.  He  left  no  stone  unturned 
to  discover  the  perpetrator  of  the  outrage,  who  was 
arrested,  tried,  and  condemned  to  death.  But, 
mainly  through  the  Duke's  influence,  the  sentence 
was  commuted  to  transportation.  "  I  would  rather 
be  without  a  pheasant  on  my  lands,"  was  his  remark 
when  speaking  of  the  affair,  "  than  that  such  scenes 
should  occur  again."  His  lands  were  never  without 
pheasants  enough  for  real  sport,  but  an  end  was 


HIS   VIEWS   ON    ARMY    EDUCATION  333 

put  to  wholesale  slaughter,  the  result  of  excessive 
breeding  and  perpetual  watching. 

The  Duke  had  no  desire  to  see  what  is  to  be 
called  Liberal  Education  extended  to  the  working- 
classes.  He  was  violently  hostile  to  plans  for 
educating  the  army.  His  opinion  respecting 
officers  was  this,  that  before  joining  their  regi- 
ments they  should,  if  possible,  pass  through  a 
public  school  and  one  of  the  universities,  and 
betake  themselves  to  the  study  of  their  profession 
after  entering  on  its  practical  duties.  He  held  in 
contempt  staff  schools,  war  schools,  and  the  other 
technical  seminaries  in  which  Continental  armies 
were  rich,  and  held  that  the  best  training  for  the 
staff  was  to  be  in  a  well  commanded  regiment,  the 
officers  sent  to  him  from  which  he  pronounced  to 
be  of  infinitely  greater  use  than  the  others  of  the 
senior  department  of  Sandhurst.  As  no  serious 
attempt  was  made  during  his  lifetime  to  initiate  a 
new  order  of  dealing  with  the  upper  ranks,  he  con- 
tented himself  with  speaking  in  general  terms 
against  such  change,  and  yielded  with  a  bad  grace 
to  the  medical  examination  of  aspirants  for  com- 
missions and  the  semblance  of  an  examination  of  a 
subaltern's  fitness  to  take  charge  of  a  company 
before  he  should  be  promoted.  But  the  proposal 
to  train  masters  and  to  open  schools  for  the  benefit 
of  non-commissioned  officers  and  men  made  him 
furious.  He  never  forgave  me  for  adding  this  to 
the  grave  offence  already  committed  of  forcing  on 


334      REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

the  restoration  of  the  Chaplain  department.  Of 
this  I  received  both  officially  and  in  private  life 
distressing  proofs.  The  official  proof  came  in  this 
fashion.  Before  establishing  the  training  school  at 
Chelsea  I  suggested  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  then 
Mr.  Herbert,  that  it  might  help  us  to  arrive  at  a 
just  estimate  of  the  educational  wants  of  the  army 
were  I  to  visit  a  few  military  stations,  and  getting 
regiments  together,  to  ascertain  what  the  intellectual 
condition,  or  rather  the  general  intelligence,  of  the 
men  was.  The  idea  was  at  once  taken  up  and 
approved.  But  I  had  scarcely  begun  this  inquiry — 
I  had  visited,  in  fact,  only  two  stations — when  on 
arriving  at  a  third,  in  Manchester,  I  was  informed 
by  General  Arbuthnot,  commanding  the  district, 
that  he  had  received  orders  from  the  Horse  Guards 
not  to  assemble  the  troops  for  my  inspection,  nor 
in  any  other  way  to  countenance  my  proceedings. 
A  stop  was  thus  put  to  a  preliminary  operation 
which  might  or  might  not  have  coloured  more  or 
less  others  which  followed ;  but  it  did  not  stop  or 
even  delay  them.  The  schools  were  formed ;  they 
became  popular  at  once  with  the  men,  and  came  in 
time  to  be  regarded  with  favour  by  the  officers. 
By  the  Duke  they  were  treated  to  the  last  as 
mischievous  innovations,  and  the  not  improbable 
foci  of  mutiny. 

As  to  the  marks  of  disapproval  which  met  me  in 
private  life  it  would  be  waste  of  time  to  do  more 
than  allude  to  them.     Wherever  and  whenever  we 


HIS    LAST    YEARS  335 

met  he  seemed  to  have  underorone  no  change.  But 
for  the  last  four  years  of  his  life  I  never  broke 
bread  in  any  of  his  houses,  nor  received  from  him 
any  such  letters  as  gave  a  tone  to  our  former 
correspondence.  The  loss  of  the  great  man's 
intimacy  grieved  me  more  than  I  am  able  to 
express.  Yet  it  did  not  lessen  the  veneration  in 
which  I  held  him,  nor  can  I  now  see  a  way  by 
which,  consistently  with  my  sense  of  duty,  it  could 
have  been  averted.  There  is  no  sadder  sifrht  in 
nature  than  that  of  a  great  mind  lapsing  into 
senility.  It  is  melancholy  enough  to  watch  the 
decay  in  a  once  vigorous  frame  ;  but  the  advancing 
feebleness  of  an  intellect  which  we  have  known  in 
the  full  flush  of  its  powers  humbles  in  its  effect 
upon  ourselves,  even  more  than  it  awakens  sorrow 
for  the  sufferer.  It  would  be  absurd  to  deny 
that  in  this  respect  the  Duke  obeyed  the 
great  law  which  makes  its  influence  felt  through- 
out humanity.  As  he  stoutly  resisted  the  ap- 
proaches of  physical  weakness,  so  he  fought 
with  characteristic  tenacity  against  the  mental 
infirmities  incident  to  old  age ;  yet  it  must  be 
admitted  his  success  was  incomplete.  Doubtless 
to  a  large  extent  the  failing  body  bore  down  the 
energies  of  the  mind,  and  though  he  refused  to 
admit  the  fact  either  to  himself  or  to  his  friends, 
not  a  day  passed  without  the  occurrence  of 
incidents  which  brought  conviction  to  the  minds 
of  all  who  witnessed  them.     He  had  always  been 


336       REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

impatient  of  help  in  the  performance  of  the 
operation,  whatever  it  might  be,  in  which  he  was 
engaged.  He  would  not  allow  his  servant  to  aid 
him  in  dressing  or  undressing.  You  could  scarcely 
oflfend  him  more  than  by  offering  to  hold  his  over- 
coat or  button  his  cloak  when  he  was  getting  ready 
to  return  from  a  ball  or  a  rout.  "  Let  me  alone," 
was  the  usual  recognition  of  civility  of  some  evident 
admirer,  who  sprang  forward  to  help  him  out  of  a 
difficulty.  Indeed,  to  such  an  extent  was  this 
feeling  of  independence  carried  as  sometimes  to 
cause  results  which  were  as  comical  as  they  were 
ludicrous,  and  yet  even  in  this  respect  he  could 
at  times  put  up  with  what  was  disagreeable  to 
himself  rather  than  give  pain  to  another. 

The  Duke,  much  gratified  by  his  election  to  a 
fellowship  of  the  Royal  Society,  made  a  point  of 
attending  the  President's  soirees  at  least  once  a 
year.  The  company,  aware  of  his  peculiarities, 
usually  allowed  him  in  departing  to  put  on  his 
own  cloak  which  a  servant  handed  to  him.  It 
chanced  that  a  young  gentleman,  whether  a  fellow 
or  not  I  don't  know,  observed  one  evening  that  the 
cloak  had  got  into  a  tangle,  and  sprang  forward  to 
put  it  to  rights.  He  was  greeted,  as  the  others  had 
been,  with  the  curt  exclamation,  "Let  me  alone," 
and  stepped  back  mortified  and.  confused.  The 
Duke  happened  to  look  up  at  the  moment,  and 
observing  the  expression  of  anguish  on  the  youth's 
countenance,  smiled,  and  exclaimed,   "  I  see  w^hat 


THE    AGED    WARRIOR  337 

you  want.  You  want  to  be  able  to  say  you  have 
helped  the  Duke  of  Wellington  in  a  strait,  and  so 
you  shall.  Give  me  the  end  of  the  cloak  and  clasp  it 
for  me."  This  was  done.  The  Duke  allowed  the 
youth  to  have  his  way,  shook  hands  with  him,  and 
left  him  in  a  state  of  high  delight. 

Regularly  as  noon  came  round  the  Duke  got 
upon  his  horse  and  rode  to  the  Horse  Guards. 
He  would  accept  of  no  help  either  in  mounting  or 
dismounting.  The  slope  of  the  junction  leading  to 
and  from  his  underground  stables  at  Apsley  House 
afforded  some  vantage  ground  during  the  former 
process,  while  the  latter,  though  accomplished  in 
the  end,  was  accomplished  slowly  and  with  great 
difficulty.  Arrived  at  the  covered  passage  which 
separates  what  was  once  the  Commander-in-Chief's 
office  from  that  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  he  had 
nothing  for  it  but  to  let  himself  down  as  well  as 
he  could  from  the  saddle.  A  little  crowd  always 
collected  to  watch  this  proceeding,  and  on  every 
face  there  was  an  expression  of  mixed  reverence 
and  alarm.  Wearily  the  right  leg  scrambled,  so 
to  speak,  over  the  croup  of  the  saddle.  Slowly 
and  painfully  it  sank  towards  the  ground,  and 
then  the  whole  body  came  down  with  a  stagger, 
which  was  never  witnessed  except  with  dismay. 
Yet  nobody  presumed  to  touch  or  even  to  approach 
him.  Through  the  open  doorway  he  passed  without 
taking  any  notice  of  those  about  him,  and,  mounting 
the  steps,  made  straight  for  the  little  room  in  which 

Y 


338       REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

he  transacted  military  business.  But  the  business 
transacted  there  came  in  the  end  to  be  sometimes 
of  the  smallest  possible  importance.  Not  un- 
frequently  he  would  fall  asleep  the  moment  he 
sat  down  in  his  arm-chair,  and  Adjutant-General, 
Quartermaster-General,  and  Military  Secretary  were 
all  too  full  of  respect  to  disturb  him.  They  looked 
in  one  after  the  other,  each  with  his  papers  in  his 
hand.  They  withdrew  again  silently,  waiting  till 
his  bell  should  ring,  and  if  it  never  rang  at  all,  as 
was  not  unfrequently  the  case,  they  being  familiar 
with  his  views,  and  having  numerous  precedents  to 
guide  them,  went  on  with  the  current  business  of 
the  day  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  themselves  and 
of  the  army.  On  these  occasions  the  Duke  usually 
slept  on  till  four  o'clock,  when  his  horses  were 
brought  round,  and  he  departed  as  he  had  come, 
the  observed  of  all  observers. 

This  state  of  chronic  feebleness  was,  however,  to 
the  last  often  broken  in  upon  by  spurts  of  astonish- 
ing vigour.  Put  him  upon  his  mettle,  either  by 
bringing  some  important  question  under  his  notice, 
or  by  an  appeal  to  that  chivalrous  courtesy  which 
never  forsook  him,  and  the  old  spirit  revived,  and 
he  was  himself  again.  On  the  18th  June  1852  he 
gave  his  usual  Waterloo  dinner,  and  appeared  to  his 
guests  to  be  as  vigorous  in  body  and  clear  in 
mind  as  he  had  been  on  previous  occasions.  The 
same  session  he  spoke  in  his  place  in  the  House  of 
Lords  in  favour  of  Mr.  Walpole's  Militia  Bill.    Later 


THE   BARONESS   BURDETT-COUTTS  339 

in  the  season  he  entertained  at  Walmer  Castle  the 
Grand  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Mecklenburg-Strelitz, 
and  himself  drove  them  to  Dover  and  saw  them 
on  board  the  Calais  packet.  Nevertheless  the 
work  of  decay  had  well  begun  both  in  mind  and 
body.  His  temper,  which  he  used  to  hold  in 
marvellous  restraint,  often  got  the  better  of  him, 
and  occasionally  he  told  stories,  which  to  say  the 
least  amazed  his  hearers.  Speaking  one  day  of 
Indian  jugglers,  he  pointed  to  a  decanter  with  a 
neck  more  than  usually  narrow  which  stood  upon 
the  table,  and  said  to  the  lady  who  sat  next  to  him 
at  dinner,  "  I  have  seen  them  put  a  live  rat  into 
just  such  a  glass  as  that."  "  It  must  have  been  a 
very  small  rat,  Duke."  "No,  nothing  of  the  sort, 
it  was  as  big  a  rat  as  any  you  will  find  in  our 
sewers."  "  You  see,"  observed  Lord  Fitzroy 
Somerset,  "  what  we  have  sometimes  to  bear  at 
the  Horse  Guards." 

The  last  time  I  dined  in  company  with  the  Duke 
was  on  the  1st  of  May  1852,  when  the  Baroness, 
then  Miss,  Burdett-Coutts  entertained  him  and  a 
large  party,  including  the  two  sons  of  King  Leopold, 
in  celebration  of  the  official  closing  of  the  Great 
Exhibition.  He  appeared  to  be  in  excellent  health, 
but  dropped  asleep  soon  after  the  ladies  withdrew, 
and  was  suddenly  recalled  to  consciousness  by  the 
Due  de  Flandres  rising  to  propose  that,  this  being 
his  birthday,  we  should  drink  his  health.  His  mode 
of  receiving  the  compliment  was  very  characteristic. 


340      REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE   OF    WELLINGTON 

He  took  no  notice  whatever  of  the  compliments 
which  the  Royal  Duke  showered  upon  him,  but 
rising,  said,  "Gentlemen,  I  am  very  much  obliged 
to  you — don't  you  think  we  had  better  join  the 
ladies?"  The  Duke's  seat  on  horseback,  though 
upright,  was  loose.  He  was,  however,  a  bold  rider 
in  his  day,  and  made  very  light  of  a  fall.  His 
horses,  when  he  bought  them,  were  all  good  horses, 
serviceable  and  enduring  rather  than  beautiful,  but 
he  got  attached  to  them,  and  continued  to  ride  them 
long  after  most  men  in  his  station  would  have  either 
sold  or  turned  them  out.  "  Copenhagen,"  his  famous 
charger,  was  no  beauty,  as  indeed  was  shown  in  the 
colossal  statue  which  very  accurately  represents  him ; 
but  he  had  served  his  master  well  in  the  Peninsula 
before  he  bore  him  through  the  great  day  of  Water- 
loo, and  richly  deserved  the  honour  paid  by  the 
second  Duke  to  his  memory. 

It  is  not,  I  believe,  generally  known  that  the 
Duke  had  for  many  years  prior  to  his  death  been 
liable  to  epileptic  fits.  His  first  seizure  occurred,  I 
think,  in  1826,  after  his  return  from  his  special 
embassy  to  Russia,  whither  in  1825  he  went  to 
congratulate  the  son  of  Alexander  the  First  on  his 
succession  to  the  Imperial  throne.  He  had  reached 
his  own  door  after  riding  in  Hyde  Park,  when, 
without  the  slightest  warning,  self-control  aban- 
doned him,  and  had  not  his  groom  fortunately 
alighted,  and  thus  been  able  to  receive  him  in 
his  arms,  he  must  have  fallen  to  the  ground.     The 


=  *:  =  ;•»■ 


■c      C 


■J  z 
.-y-y.'  J  .    "&"5 

A  Ji  -  ~  :c  -      s  < 


V3tO 


—      —      < 


EPILEPTIC   FITS  341 

fit  was  comparatively  slight,  and  soon  passed  away, 
but  returned  at  intervals,  and  always  with  increased 
violence.  Lord  Stanhope,  in  a  volume  printed  for 
private  circulation,  gives  a  distressingaccount  of  one 
of  these  attacks  which  fell  upon  him  at  Walmer,  and 
lasted  several  hours.  It  had  not  apparently  the 
effect  of  depriving  him  of  consciousness  even  when 
at  its  heifxht,  but  the  weakness  attendant  and  con- 
sequent  on  it  lasted  two  days.  It  is  curious  that 
the  Archduke  Charles,  undeniably  one  of  the  best 
officers  among  the  Duke's  contemporaries,  should 
have  been  subject  to  the  same  weakness.  Unfor- 
tunately for  him  the  approach  of  the  malady  was 
not  deferred  till  after  the  close  of  the  great  war. 
More  than  once  an  epileptic  fit  overtook  him  at  a 
critical  moment  in  the  operations  he  was  conducting, 
and  marred  them.  This  was  especially  the  case  at 
the  time  when  after  the  fall  of  Vienna  Napoleon's 
fate  may  be  said  to  have  hung  in  the  balance.  The 
Archduke  was  struck  down  just  before  the  pre- 
parations were  completed  for  an  attack  on  the 
French  position  which  Napoleon  was  not  in  a 
condition  successfully  to  meet. 

The  Duke  died,  as  is  well  known,  after  a  very 
short  illness,  and  in  strong  convulsions.  No  special 
cause  of  the  catastrophe  was  so  much  as  hinted  at 
when  it  occurred.  Men  were  content  to  remember 
that  he  had  on  former  occasions  suffered  from  like 
attacks,  and  they  took  it  for  granted  that  before  an 
unusually  violent  access  of  the  malady  his  failing 


342       REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

strength  had  succumbed.     But  further  inquiry  has 
since   produced  a  strong  suspicion   that    had    his 
medical   attendants   been  aware   of  certain  of  the 
Duke's    pecuUarities,    and    dealt    with    his     case 
surgically,    his    life    might   have   been    prolonged. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  as  long  ago  as   1825 
the   Duke    put    himself   into    the    hands    of    Mr. 
Stephenson,    the   well-known   aurist,   and  was  by 
him  treated  for  partial  deafness.     From  the  treat- 
ment to  which   he   was    subjected,   and   his    own 
neglect  of  the  means  prescribed  by  Mr.  Stephenson 
for  averting  a  not  improbable  consequence,  the  Duke 
never  recovered.    The  drum  of  his  ear  was  destroyed, 
and  he  not  only  became  stone  deaf  on  that  side 
of   the  head,  but   unremitting    attention    became 
necessary     in     order    to    avert    further    mischief. 
Among   other    precautions    to    which  he   had   re- 
course was   a  thorough  investigation    of    the    ear 
every  day  by  a  medical  attendant,  and  the  careful 
removal  of  the  wax  from  the  cell  whenever  it  began 
to  coagulate.     But  old  men  grow  weary  of  processes 
which  young  men  hardly  endure.    The  Duke  became 
as  years  advanced  on  him  more  and  more  lax  in 
attending  to  the  state   of  his  ear.     Always  most 
fastidious  over  his  toilet,  he  forgot  that  when  the 
drum  of  the  ear  is  destroyed  the  mere  process  of 
washing  and    cleansing    the    exterior   of    the    cell 
establishes  no  security  against  the  accumulation  of 
wax  internally.     The  process  appears  to  have  gone 
on  for  months  unnoticed  either  by  himself  or  any- 


HIS    DEATH  343 

body  else,  till  at  last  the  wax  pushed  inward  in  the 
shape  of  a  cone,  and,  hardened  by  time,  infringed 
upon  the  brain.  Had  a  surgeon  been  informed  of 
this,  and  taken  immediate  steps  to  remove  the 
pressure,  the  convulsion  would  have  ceased,  and 
the  Duke  might  have  recovered.  As  it  was,  the 
remedies  adopted  served  only  to  aggravate  the 
malady  by  rendering  the  paroxysms  of  sickness 
more  frequent  and  more  severe.  The  Duke's 
strength  was  unequal  to  sustain  a  prolonged 
struggle  with  convulsive  fits,  because  the  cause 
of  the  fits  was  not  internal  derangement,  but 
direct  pressure  upon  the  brain  from  without. 


Note. — My  father  was  urged  in  his  declining:  3'ears  by 
many  friends,  amongst  them  Lord  Wolseley,  to  write  his 
reminiscences  of  the  great  Duke,  but  always  pleaded  old 
age  for  not  undertaking  the  task, — invariably  adding, 
however,  that  among  his  papers  ample  material  would  be 
found  for  an  interesting  volume  on  the  subject.  And  yet, 
such  Avas  the  vigour  of  his  mind,  and  so  strongly  was 
writing  second  nature  to  him,  that  in  his  ninetieth  year, 
when  his  family  hoped  he  was  quietly  resting  in  his  room, 
he  actually  undertook  the  task  himself,  and  compiled  the 
volume  which  is  now  before  the  public,  even  heading  the 
four  books  in  the  manner  he  wished  it  "  some  day  "  to  be 
published. 

At  the  end  of  the  MS.  I  found  this  touching  little 
sentence :  "  I  am  not  now  able  to  read  this  all  through,  but 
I  hope  some  one  will  be  at  hand  to  correct  any  little 
mistakes  I  may  have  made." 

MARY  E.  GLEIG. 


APPENDIX 

MEMORANDUM   ON   THE   WAR   IN   RUSSIA   IN    1812 

1825. 

Se^ur's,  work^  has  drawn  the  public  attention  to  the  most 
extraordinary  and  stupendous  transactions  and  events  of 
modern  times,  and  of  which  no  times  have  ever  produced 
a  parallel.  The  details  of  these  transactions  and  events 
have  consequently  been  accurately  examined  by  many, 
and  the  result  has  been  a  conviction  that  the  common 
sense  which  guides  mankind  in  the  ordinary  transactions 
of  life  had  but  little  influence  either  in  the  origin  of,  or 
the  preparations  for,  the  Russian  war,  or  the  conduct  of 
the  operations  which  are  the  subject  of  the  work. 

It  is  useless  to  consider  what  was  the  cause  of  the  war 
between  Napoleon  and  the  Emperor  of  Russia.  The 
ostensible  causes  of  dispute  were  clearly  removed.  The 
diplomatists  had  agreed  upon  the  principle  of  the  mode  of 
settling  them  all ;  and  there  would  have  been  no  difficulty 
in  the  application  of  that  principle.  But  at  the  very 
moment  at  which  this  principle  of  settlement  was  agreed 
upon,  Napoleon  moved  armies,  to  the  amount  of  about 
600,000  men,  into  the  dominions  of  the  King  of  Prussia, 
in  consequence  of  the  treaty  with  Prussia,  which  Prussia 
had  been  induced  to  solicit ;  and  the  Emperor  of  Russia, 
seeing  clearly  that  the  war  was  not  to  be  avoided,  that 
the  points,  the  settlement  upon  which  had  been  agreed 
upon,  were  mere  pretexts ;  and  that  his  disgrace  in  the 

^  Histoire  de  Napoleon  et  de  la  Grande-Armee  pendant  l'ann4e  1812. 
Par  M.  le  General  Comte  de  S^gur.     Paris,  1824. 


APPENDIX  345 

eyes  of  Europe  in  the  first  instance,  and  the  ultimate 
destruction  of  the  power  and  influence  of  his  government, 
were  the  real  objects  of  Napoleon,  determined  that  he 
would  resist  upon  the  question  of  the  Prussian  treaty  and 
occupation,  which  brought  fairly  before  the  public  the 
real  point  at  issue,  and  to  the  recollection  of  public  men 
that  States  have  an  interest  in  the  transactions  of  other 
States  with  their  neighbours,  and  a  right  to  question  those 
transactions. 

It  is  clear,  then,  that  there  was  no  legitimate  French 
interest  involved  in  this  war.  There  was  no  point  of 
public  honour,  at  least  on  the  part  of  France.  When  the 
principles  of  the  settlement  of  the  trifling  points  of  dispute 
were  agreed  upon,  there  was  no  occasion  for  carrying  into 
execution  the  treat}'  with  Prussia.  To  carry  that  treaty 
into  execution  was  a  menace  to  Russia  which  was  in- 
jurious to  its  honour ;  and,  if  submitted  to,  was  calculated 
to  deteriorate  the  power  and  influence  of  Russia  both  at 
home  and  abroad.  There  might  have  existed  a  necessity 
for  endeavouring  to  destroy  the  power  of  Russia  growing 
out  of  the  transactions  between  France  and  other  States  of 
Europe,  and  the  apprehensions  that  those  States  might 
look  to  the  assistance  and  protection  of  Russia.  But  the 
legitimate  necessity  for  war,  or  for  measures  which  must 
lead  to  war,  must  not  depend  upon  the  choice  be- 
tween two  different  lines  of  policy.  In  this  case  there 
was  an  option,  viz.,  for  Napoleon  to  soften  his  policy 
towards  those  States  in  whose  favour  or  on  whose  behalf 
the  Russian  interference  was  apprehended.  That  policy 
was  a  system  of  insult  and  menace.  It  was  not  influence 
growing  out  of  treaty,  but  it  was  menace  founded  upon 
the  success  of  former  wars,  the  insolence  of  exorbitant 
power  in  the  hands  of  new  men,  and  the  constant  appre- 
hension which  an  innate  sense  of  injustice  produces  even  in 
such  minds,  that  the  oppressed  must  turn  against  their 
oppressors.     The  maintenance  of  such  policy,  which  can- 


346       REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

not  be  publicly  stated  and  avowed,  cannot  be  fairly  con- 
sidered a  ground  for  war. 

There  was  no  French  interest  involved,  and  no  real 
ground  for  war  then  between  Napoleon  and  the  Emperor 
of  Russia.  The  war  was  occasioned  solely  by  the  desire  of 
the  former  to  fight  a  great  battle,  to  gain  a  great  victory, 
to  occupy  with  his  army  one  more  great  capital,  and  to 
subject  to  his  rule  the  power  of  Russia. 

It  was  in  this  light  that  the  war  was  viewed  by  the 
French  politicians  of  the  day  ;  and  it  is  curious  to  observe 
in  these  works  the  total  absence  of  principle  in  the 
examination  of  this  great  question  of  war  or  peace.  No- 
body adverts  to  the  injustice  of  this  intended  attack  upon 
the  Emperor  of  Russia.  Its  difficulty,  its  danger,  its 
expense,  the  absence  of  all  prospect  of  remuneration  and 
relief  from  financial  difficulty  by  confiscation,  plunder,  or 
the  levy  of  contributions,  and  the  little  probability  that 
success  in  this  intended  war  would  bring  to  a  conclusion 
the  disastrous  war  in  Spain,  were  all  insinuated  or  urged 
with  more  or  less  of  vehemence  according  to  the  character, 
the  station,  or  the  degree  of  intimacy  of  the  person  urging 
those  topics  with  Napoleon.  But  nobody  ventured  to  hint 
the  injustice  of  the  war  itself;  and,  in  truth,  all  admitted, 
some  in  positive  terms,  that  the  time  was  come  at  which 
it  was  absolutely  necessary  that  Napoleon  should  bring 
under  his  subjection  this  one  independent  power  remain- 
ing on  the  continent  of  Europe.  It  is  curious  to  observe 
his  answers  to  each  of  those  who  ventured  to  hint  obj.ec- 
tions  to  his  proposed  measures,  each  of  which  contained 
what  he  must  have  known  at  the  time  was  a  falsehood. 

Then  in  the  preparations  for  this  war  there  was  as  little  of 
national  policy  as  there  was  in  the  war  itself.  This  war  was 
in  the  contemplation  of  Napoleon  for  a  considerable  period 
of  time  previous  to  its  commencement, — it  is  believed  from 
the  period  of  the  refusal  to  give  him  the  Russian  princess 
in  marriage,  and  from  that  of  the  celebration  of  the  mar- 


APPENDIX  347 

riage  with  the  Austrian  princess,  in  the  year  1810.  It  is 
certain  that  Prince  Metternich,  on  his  return  to  Vienna  in 
the  spring  of  1811,  apprised  his  sovereign  of  the  proba- 
bihty  that  the  marriage  which  had  been  celebrated  would 
not  have  the  effect  of  giving  to  Europe  permanent  tran- 
quillity. Yet,  notwithstanding  that  this  war  had  been  so 
long  intended,  no  political  measures  Avere  adopted  to  en- 
able Napoleon  to  carr}'^  it  on  with  advantage.  Russia  has 
two  neighbours,  the  Porte  and  Sweden,  with  which  Powers 
it  had  always  been  the  policy  of  France  to  connect  herself; 
and  such  connection  was  not  only  honourable  to  France 
but  useful  to  Europe.  It  is  not  useless  to  examine  the 
conduct  of  Napoleon  in  relation  to  these  Powers,  as  this 
examination  will  show  how  entirely  the  national  policy  of 
France  was  lost  sight  of  by  him  when  his  own  personal 
objects  were  in  question. 

The  first  idea  of  the  Russian  marriage  occurred  at  Tilsit, 
This  is  the  real  secret  of  that  treaty.  In  pursuit  of  that 
object  Napoleon  sacrificed  to  the  Emperor  of  Russia  the 
interests  of  the  Porte  and  of  Sweden.  He  lost  the  oppor- 
tunity then  afforded  to  him  of  reconciling  the  Porte, 
and  of  attaching  that  power  to  France  for  ever ;  and  he 
not  only  alienated  Sweden  from  France,  but  absolutely 
sacrificed  that  Power  to  Russia  by  his  consent  to  the 
conquest  of  Finland  ;  and  he  thus  destroyed  the  balance 
in  the  North  of  Europe  by  depriving  Sweden  of  all  means 
of  annoyance  against  Russia. 

Useful  as  the  existence  and  strength  of  both  of  these 
powers  were  to  the  world  at  large,  and  honourable  and 
advantageous  as  their  connection  with  France  was  to 
France  at  all  times,  it  was  more  particularly  necessary  in 
a  war  with  Russia,  waged  on  Russian  ground.  Command- 
ing as  those  powers  did  the  navigation  of  the  Russian 
seas,  situated  as  they  were  in  1811  and  1812  in  relation 
to  the  means  of  defence  of  Russia,  it  might  have  been 
expected  that   Napoleon,  upon   the   eve  of  the  war  with 


348       REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

Russia,  would  have  turned  his  attention  to  the  con- 
ciliation of  those  Powers,  and  would  have  endeavoured  to 
procure  their  assistance. 

But  having  abandoned  them  both  to  the  will  of  Russia  at 
the  period  of  the  Peace  of  Tilsit,  he  appears  to  have  for- 
gotten that  they  existed  till  a  period  long  subsequent  to 
the  Austrian  marriage ;  at  which  period  it  is  clear  that  he 
began  to  think  of  the  attack  upon  Russia.  Even  then  he 
neglected  the  Porte,  and  made  but  trifling  efforts  to  recon- 
cile that  government  to  France,  and  to  induce  them  to 
connect  their  cause  with  his. 

Towards  Sweden  the  conduct  of  Napoleon  was  even 
worse  than  that  towards  the  Porte.  Even  after  Bernadotte 
had  been  called  to  the  succession  of  the  crown  of  Sweden, 
he  treated  that  Power  with  more  ignominy  than  ever ; 
and  the  more  probably,  as  it  is  hinted  in  Segur's  work, 
because  Bernadotte  had  been  the  rival  of  Bonaparte  in  the 
transactions  of  Paris  which  preceded  the  18th  Brumaire, 
and  on  account  of  their  subsequent  disagreements.  He 
seized  upon  Swedish  Pomerania  and  the  island  of  Rugen 
by  way  of  enforcing  the  continental  S3'stem  against  Eng- 
land, and  otherwise  insulted  Sweden  at  a  moment  at  which 
the  assistance  of  that  Power  would  have  been  worth  more 
to  France  than  that  of  both  Austria  and  Prussia.  A 
sovereign  having  the  honour  and  interest  of  his  country 
at  heart,  instead  of  those  personal  to  himself,  would  have 
forgotten,  or  at  all  events  have  laid  aside  for  the  moment, 
all  consideration  of  those  personal  causes  of  offence  ;  but 
Napoleon  could  not  forget  them.  He,  on  the  contrary,  for- 
got the  interests  and  ancient  policy  of  France,  and  gratified 
his  personal  resentment  against  the  Crown  Prince. 

Not  so  the  British  government.  They  treated  the 
Swedish  government  with  the  utmost  moderation  and 
kindness,  notwithstanding  that  the  two  nations  were  at 
war  in  consequence  of  the  authoritative  mandate  of 
Napoleon  given  to  Sweden.      They  likewise  seized   the 


APPENDIX  349 

earliest  opportunity  which  circumstances  afforded  of 
making  peace  with  Russia  and  with  Sweden,  an<l  of 
mediating  a  cordial  union  between  those  two  powers. 
They  made  the  greatest  sacrifices  on  the  part  of  Great 
Britain  to  induce  the  Crown  Prince  to  postpone  his  pre- 
tensions to  Norway,  and  the  execution  of  the  engagement 
of  the  Emperor  of  Russia  to  assist  Sweden  in  making  the 
conquest  of  that  country ;  and  the  result  of  these  arrange- 
ments was  not  only  to  relieve  his  Imperial  Majesty  from 
the  necessity  of  defending  himself  on  the  side  of  Finland, 
but  to  place  at  his  disposal  for  operations  against  the 
French  troops  on  the  Dwina  the  corps  of  Russian  troops 
collected  in  Finland  for  the  purpose  of  performing  his 
original  engagement  to  Sweden. 

Then  in  respect  to  the  Porte,  the  British  Government 
seized  the  earliest  opportunity  of  exerting  their  influence, 
and  succeeded  in  inducing  the  Porte  to  make  peace  with 
Russia,  thus  relieving  his  Imperial  Majesty  from  the 
contest  with  the  Porte,  and  from  the  necessity  of  defend- 
ing himself  on  his  south-east  frontier. 

If  the  great  statesman  who  at  that  period  conducted 
the  foreign  affairs  of  Great  Britain  had  never  rendered  to 
his  own  country  or  the  world  any  other  service  than  those 
above  noticed,  his  name  would  have  gone  down  to 
posterity  as  the  man  who  had  first  foreseen  and  had  after- 
wards seized  the  opportunity  of  rendering  to  the  world 
the  most  important  service  that  ever  fell  to  the  lot  of  any 
individual  to  perform.  There  is  no  child  who  reads  these 
histories  who  will  not  see  that  by  those  arrangements  not 
only  was  Napoleon  deprived  of  all  the  assistance  which  he 
might  have  derived  from  the  operations  of  the  Turkish 
troops,  but  that  the  Russian  troops  opposed  to  those 
operations,  and  those  stationed  in  Finland  with  a  view  to 
Swedish  objects,  were  at  the  same  critical  moment  of  the 
campaign  thrown  upon  the  rear  of  the  French  armies  in 
Russia. 


350       REMINISCENCES   OF    DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

Great  as  the  loss  in  the  French  armies  was  by  war  and 
famine,  and  the  consequences  of  those  irregularities  which 
are  inseparable  from  such  a  system  as  that  of  Napoleon, 
and  aggravated  as  all  the  distresses  of  the  army  were  by 
the  intense  severity  of  the  season,  it  must  be  obvious  to 
all  that  the  great  destruction  of  the  French  army  in 
Russia  was  to  be  attributed  to  the  position  of  the  Russian 
troops  upon  the  Orcha  and  the  Berezina,  in  November, 
1812 ;  the  very  troops  thus  brought  into  action  in  con- 
sequence of  the  political  arrangements  above  referred  to. 
The  movements  of  these  troops  might  have  been  more 
scientifically  and  vigorously  conducted,  and  their  opera- 
tions even  more  successful  than  they  were.  That  is  the 
affair  of  the  generals  who  commanded  them ;  and  the 
question  whether  they  were  well  or  ill  conducted  can 
never  afl'ect  the  reputation  of  the  late  Lord  Castlereagh, 
by  whose  political  measures  and  negotiations  the  Emperor's 
government  had  these  troops  at  their  disposition  to  be 
employed  against  the  common  enemy.^ 

Then  another  political  arrangement,  which  would  have 
been  of  the  greatest  importance  to  the  French  army 
engaged  in  these  operations,  related  to  Poland.  The 
Emperor  of  Austria  had  possession  of  Polish  Galicia,  and 
had  required  from  Napoleon  an  engagement  that  no 
measures  should  be  taken  to  reconstruct  the  kingdom  of 
Poland  without  the  consent  of  his  Imperial  Majesty,  and 
without  giving  to  his  Imperial  Majesty  compensation  for 
the  probable  loss  of  his  Polish  dominions  by  the  retro- 
cession by  France  to  his  Imperial  Majesty  of  the  Illyrian 
provinces  ceded  to  France  by  his  Imperial  Majesty  by  the 
recent  Treaty  of  Vienna.  France  having  lost  the  assist- 
ance for  which  Napoleon  had  sought,  but  sought  too  late, 
if  really  in  earnest  in  his  wish  to  obtain  it,  viz.,  that  of 
Sweden  and  the  Porte,  there  is  no  doubt  that  that  to 

^  The  policy  here  attributed  to  Lord  Castlereagh  was  originated  by 
the  Marquess  Wellesley,  who  preceded  Lord  Castlereagh  as  Secretary 
of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs. — Ed. 


APPENDIX  351 

which  he  ought  to  have  looked  was  the  assistance  of  the 
Poles.  He  did  derive  great  assistance  from  the  Poles  of 
the  Duchy  of  Warsaw ;  and  he  endeavoured  to  derive 
assistance  from  those  of  the  province  of  Lithuania,  in 
which  he  established  a  government;  and  he  delayed  at 
Wilna  for  a  considerable  period  of  time  at  the  very  open- 
ing of  the  campaign,  in  order  to  organise  and  put  in  motion 
that  government.  But  the  Poles  soon  discovered  the 
secret,  that  it  was  impossible  to  constitute,  as  an  inde- 
pendent State,  Poland  or  even  those  provinces  of  the 
ancient  kingdom  of  Poland  which  should  be  conquered 
from  Russia,  on  account  of  the  engagements  between 
Napoleon  and  Austria ;  and  because  it  was  quite  certain 
that  Napoleon  would  not  make  the  sacrifice  to  Austria  of 
the  Illyrian  provinces  in  compensation  for  Polish  Galicia, 
which  Austria  would  have  lost  by  the  reconstruction  of 
Poland.  The  language  of  Napoleon  therefore  was  loose 
and  cold  in  answer  to  the  addresses  of  the  Poles  on  the 
subject  of  their  independence;  and  the  efforts  of  the 
Lithuanians  were  directed  against  him,  or,  if  made  in  any 
instance  in  his  favour,  were  lukewarm  and  weak. 

Invading  Russia  as  Napoleon  did  with  an  army  of 
600,000  men,  the  military  assistance  of  the  Lithuanians, 
or  of  the  people  of  any  of  the  Polish  provinces  under  the 
Russian  government,  could  not  have  been  necessary  to 
his  success ;  but  their  good  will  and  activity  in  supplying 
his  armies  would  have  been  desirable,  for  the  very  reason 
that,  and  in  proportion  as,  their  military  assistance  was 
not  necessary.  Great  difficulty  nmst  have  existed  in 
feeding  and  supplying  the  large  armies  with  which  the 
invasion  of  Russia  Avas  necessarily  made ;  and  the  active 
and  zealous  co-operation  and  assistance  of  the  Lithuanians 
was  absolutely  necessary  in  order  to  overcome  or  lessen 
the  difficulties  which  must  have^been  expected,  and  were 
expected,  as  it  will  appear  presently,  to  attend  this  im- 
portant branch  of  the  service. 


352       REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

The  advantage  of  their  assistance  was  lost  because 
Napoleon  would  not  sacrifice  to  Austria  the  lUyrian 
provinces,  which  were  useless  to  France;  and  much  of 
the  mischief  which  occurred  must  be  attributed  to  the 
same  fact.  Napoleon,  then,  led  the  armies  of  Europe  into 
Russia  without  any  of  the  assistance  the  country  could 
afford,  whether  of  a  military  or  of  a  civil  or  political 
nature,  which  common  attention,  or  the  ordinary  policy 
of  a  statesman,  would  have  placed  at  his  disposal.  Yet  it 
appears  by  these  accounts  that  he  was  well  aware  of  the 
difficulties  and  dangers  of  the  enterprise  which  he  had 
undertaken,  and  most  particularly  of  those  difficulties 
respecting  provisions  which  at  last  destroyed  his  army. 
He  was  to  invade  a  country  of  great  extent,  but  of  small 
population  in  proportion  to  its  extent,  and  that  population 
consisting  of  slaves,  and  but  very  unequally  distributed 
in  the  differents  parts  of  the  country.  The  country 
contained  but  few  large  towns  from  which  any  military 
resource  could  be  drawn.  The  soil  is  in  general  marshy 
and  overgrown  with  timber,  and  the  roads  and  communica- 
tions very  rare,  and  those  which  existed  difficult  at  all 
times,  and  scarcely  practicable  for  wheel-carriages  in  wet 
weather. 

Napoleon,  aware  of  the  difficulties  of  subsistence  in 
that  country  for  a  large  army,  formed  squadrons, 
regiments,  and  brigades  of  carts  loaded  with  provisions 
and  other  necessaries  for  his  army,  which  followed  its 
movements  through  Prussia,  in  which  country  it  was 
provisioned  on  its  passage,  under  the  treaty  of  alliance 
with  the  King  of  Prussia.  Droves  of  cattle  were  moved 
through  Germany  from  Italy  and  France.  Yet  so  little 
did  these  arrangements  answer  the  purpose  intended,  that 
before  the  army  quitted  the  Duchy  of  Warsaw  we  see 
complaints  of  the  plunder  of  that  country,  and  remon- 
strances from  Napoleon  to  his  marshals  of  the  evil 
consequences    (compared    to    those    in   Portugal)   which 


APPENDIX  353 

must  result  from  the  irregularity  of  the  troops,  and  from 
the  mode  in  which  they  took  provisions  from  the  enemy. 

At  Wilna,  the  first  place  at  which  a  halt  was  made 
within  the  Russian  frontier,  and  at  which  a  hospital  was 
to  be  established,  we  see  what  the  means  were  which  this 
army  of  600,000  men  possessed. 

This  army  of  600,000  men  could  establish  hospitals 
for  only  6000  men  at  Wilna.  These  were  without  pro- 
visions, beds,  covering,  or  even  straw  to  lie  upon,  and 
even  unprovided  with  medicine.  Yet  it  is  a  curious  fact 
that  the  Wiirtemberg  army  had  an  excellent  hospital  at 
Wilna,  because  the  King  of  Wurtemberg  paid  the  expense 
of  the  hospitals  for  his  troops.  This  fact  shows  to  what 
circumstances  all  these  difficulties  were  to  be  attributed. 
At  Vitepsk,  where  another  hospital  was  formed,  we  see  by 
the  account  that  hospitals  for  only  1400  men  could  be 
formed;  Russians  and  French  in  equal  numbers;  the 
Russians  having  been  left  for  three  days  without  assist- 
ance, when  they  were  taken  into  the  French  hospitals. 

The  surgeons  were  obliged  to  use  their  own  shirts  for 
dressings,  as  well  as  those  of  the  wounded  soldiers.  It 
must  be  observed  that  these  hospitals  were  for  wounded 
only ;  the  sick  shifted  for  themselves  as  they  could.  At 
Smolensk,  on  the  second  night  after  the  establishment 
of  the  hospitals  in  that  town,  everything  was  wanting  to 
dress  the  wounds  of  the  wounded  soldiers  ;  and  paper 
found  in  the  archives  Avas  made  use  of  instead  of  lint. 
Then  Segur  says,  "  Nos  chirurgiens  accables,  s  etonnent ; 
depuis  trois  jours  un  hopital  de  cent  blesses  est  oublie. 
Un  hazard  vient  de  Ic  faire  decouvrir." 

After  the  battle  of  Borodino  20,000  French  wounded 
were  left  in  the  Abbaye  of  Kolotskoi.  Segur  says,  "  Les 
ambulances  avaient  rejoint,  viais  tout  fut  itisuffi.sant " ; 
that  is,  nearly  three  months  after  the  frontier  had  been 
passed  ;  and  Larrey,  the  chiritrgien-en-chef,  complains  in  a 
publication,    that   no    troops   were   left   with    him    'poiir 


354      REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

requerir  those  articles  which  were  necessary  from  the 
neighbouring  villages.  Pour  requerir  is,  in  plain  terms, 
envojer  a  la  maraude — plunder  in  order  to  supply  the 
hospitals ! ! 

The  causes  of  the  failure  of  these  measures  of  pre- 
caution are  worth  discussing,  as  the  discussion  Avill  convey 
to  the  minds  of  the  readers  of  this  paper  the  real  cause 
of  the  disasters  of  the  French  army  in  Russia. 

The  truth  is  that  Napoleon  learnt  at  Paris  and  Dresden, 
and  the  information  was  confirmed  on  his  arrival  at 
Konigsberg  from  Dresden,  that  the  Emperor  of  Russia 
had  collected  his  army  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Wilna. 
He  conceived  that  he  should  surprise  his  enemy  in  that 
position  and  defeat  him ;  or  that  in  his  retreat  he  would 
have  it  in  his  power  to  fall  upon  and  destroy  some 
detached  corps.  Forced  marches  were  then  to  be  under- 
taken, even  from  the  Vistula,  and  were  continued  till  the 
army  reached  the  Dwina  and  the  Dnieper.  The  carts, 
the  carriages,  the  cattle,  and  all  the  supplies  brought  from 
France  and  Italy,  were  left  behind;  all  the  difficulties  of 
the  enterprise  were  forgotten,  and  nothing  thought  of  but 
the  prospect  of  finding  the  enemy  en  flagrant  delit,  and 
of  destroying  him  at  one  blow. 

It  is  curious  to  read  the  statement  in  Segur,  which  is 
confirmed  by  all  who  have  written  the  history  of  this 
war,  of  the  loss  sustained  by  the  army  in  the  first  marches 
from  the  Niemen  and  the  Vilia.  Not  less  than  ten 
thousand  horses  and  many  men  are  stated  to  have  been 
left  dead  upon  the  road,  and  thousands  of  stragglers  from 
their  regiments  were  wandering  about  the  country.  This 
loss  is  attributed  to  the  storm  of  rain  which  occurred  at 
that  period.  But  those  who  know  what  an  army  is  well 
know  that  a  storm  of  rain  in  the  summer,  whatever  its 
violence  and  character,  does  not  destroy  the  horses  of  an 
army.  That  which  does  destroy  them,  that  which  renders 
those  who  survive  nearly  unfit  for   service   throughout 


APPENDIX  355 

the  campaign,  and  incapable  of  bearing  the  hardship  of  the 
winter,  is  hard  work,  forced  marches,  no  corn  or  dry 
fodder  at  the  period  at  which  the  green  corn  is  on  the 
ground,  and  is  invariably  eaten  by  the  horses  of  the  army. 
It  is  the  period  of  the  year  at  which  of  all  others  a 
commander  who  cares  for  his  army  will  avoid  enterprises 
the  execution  of  which  requires  forced  marches  or  the  hard 
work  of  the  horses. 

In  like  manner,  storms  of  rain  do  not  destroy  soldiers  of 
the  infantry  exposed  to  them,  in  a  greater  degree  than 
other  men ;  but  forced  marches  on  roads  destroyed  by 
storms  of  rain,  through  a  country  unprovided  with  shelter 
and  without  provisions,  do  destroy  soldiers,  as  every  one 
left  behind  is  without  resource,  is  exposed,  unsheltered 
and  starving,  to  the  effects  of  the  storm ;  he  cannot  follow 
and  overtaice  his  corps,  and  he  nmst  perish. 

The  second  chapter  of  the  third  book  of  Segur's  work 
contains  a  curious  and  true  specimen  of  what  a  French 
army  was,  in  the  account  given  of  Davout's  corps;  and 
how  formidable  to  its  enemy,  if  common  care  had  been 
taken  of  it : — 

"  II  a  soixante-dix  mille  hommes  dont  I'organisation  est 
complete ;  ils  portent  pour  vingt-cinq  jours  de  vivres. 
Chaque  compagnie  renferme  des  nageurs,  des  ma^-ons,  des 
boulangers,  des  tailleurs,  des  cordonniers,  des  armuriers, 
eniin  des  ouvriers  de  toute  espece.  Elles  portent  tout 
avec  elles ;  son  armee  est  comme  unc  colonic  :  des  moulins 
k  bras  suivent.  II  a  prevu  tous  les  besoins;  tous  les 
moyens  d'y  suppleer  sent  prets." 

Called  together  by  the  conscription,  each  battalion  of 
the  French  array  had  in  its  ranks  good  and  bad,  of  high, 
low,  and  middle  classes,  men  of  all  trades  and  professions. 
The  French  soldiers  scarcely  required  the  usual  discipline 
or  punishment  inflicted  on  soldiers  to  keep  them  in  order. 
The  good,  under  the  superintendence  and  encouragement 
of  the  officers,  took  care  of  the  bad,  and  kept  them   in 


356      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

order ;  and  they  were  upon  the  whole  the  best,  the  most 
orderly  and  obedient,  and  the  most  easily  commanded  and 
best  regulated  body  of  troops  that  ever  existed  in  Europe. 
They  were  destroyed  by  their  privations.  The  French 
Revolution  first  introduced  into  the  world  new  systems  of 
war,  the  objects  and  results  of  which  Avere  to  render  war  a 
resource  instead  of  a  burthen  to  the  belligerents,  and  to 
throw  the  burthen  upon  the  country  which  unfortunately 
became  the  seat  of  its  operations.  The  system  of  terror 
and  the  misery  of  the  people  in  France ;  and  the  conscrip- 
tion, the  execution  of  which  was  facilitated  by  the  first ; 
placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  government  of  the  day  the 
whole  of  the  serviceable  male  population  of  the  country. 
All  that  the  government  had  to  do  or  did  with  them  was 
to  organise  them  into  military  bodies,  arm  them,  and 
have  them  taught  the  first  movements  of  the  use  of  their 
arms  and  of  their  military  exercises.  They  were  then 
poured  into  some  foreign  country  to  live  upon  its 
resources.  Their  numbers  stifled  or  overcame  all  local 
opposition ;  and  whatever  might  be  the  loss  or  misery 
which  the  system  itself  might  occasion  in  the  French 
armies,  the  first  was  of  men  who  when  dead  could  not 
complain ;  the  success  stifled  the  complaints  of  their 
survivors. 

Napoleon  was  educated  in  this  system.  He  succeeded 
to  the  power  it  gave  to  the  government,  and  carried  its 
action  to  the  greatest  possible  extent.  The  system  of  his 
tactics  was  founded  upon  forced  marches.  War,  being 
the  principal  resource  of  his  government,  was  to  be 
carried  on  at  the  smallest  possible  expense  of  money  to 
his  treasury,  but  at  the  greatest  possible  expenditure  of 
the  lives  of  men,  not  only  by  the  fire  of  the  enemy,  but  by 
privations,  fatigue,  and  sickness.  Till  this  Russian  war 
he  had  never  thought  of  supplying  his  armies  with  the 
necessaries  requisite  to  enable  such  great  bodies  to  keep 
the  field.      His  object  was  to  surprise  his  enemy  by  the 


APPENDIX  357 

rapidity  of  his  marches,  to  fight  a  great  battle,  levy  con- 
tributions, make  peace,  and  return  to  Paris.  But  these 
objects  were  always  attained  at  the  expense  of  the  utmost 
privations  to  his  troops. 

These  privations,  which  must  have  rendered  the  soldier 
unfit  for  service,  and  must  have  destroyed  him  at  once  if 
not  relieved  by  breaches  of  order  and  discipline,  and  by 
plunder  and  its  consequences,  occasioned  all  these  evils, 
till  the  army,  however  well  composed  originally,  and  how- 
ever orderly  and  well  disciplined  and  formidable  as  a 
military  body  to  its  enemies,  became  at  last  a  horde  of 
banditti,  all  equally  bad,  and  destroying  itself  by  its 
irregularities.  Indeed  no  other  army,  excepting  the 
French  army,  could  have  subsisted  in  the  manner  in 
which  the  French  army  did.  No  other  army  known  in 
Europe  is  sufficiently  under  command. 

His  mode  is  really  curious,  and  worthy  of  observation. 
The  army  started  with  a  certain  number  of  days'  pro- 
visions upon  the  men's  backs,  seldom  less  than  seven 
days,  and  sometimes  provision,  that  is  to  say,  bread  or 
biscuit,  for  fourteen  days.  Cattle  were  driven  with  the 
army  to  supply  the  rations  of  meat.  These  articles  were 
procured  either  from  magazines,  or  from  some  large  town, 
or  from  some  rich,  well-populated  district  in  which  the 
troops  might  have  been  cantoned.  The  cavalry  could 
not  be  loaded  with  provender  for  the  horses  for  more  than 
three  or  four  days. 

Thus  provided,  the  army  started  upon  its  expedition  by 
forced  marches.  In  very  few  days  it  was  generally  dis- 
covered that  the  soldiers,  unable  to  carry  their  loads  upon 
these  forced  marches,  had  either  consumed  in  two  or 
three  days  that  which  ought  to  have  lasted  seven  or  ten 
days,  or  had  thrown  it  away ;  or  the  General  command- 
ing, being  apprehensive  that  the  provisions  which  his 
troops  had  in  possession  would  not  be  sufficient  to  last  till 
he  should  be  able  to  have  another  regular  issue,  com- 


358      REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

menced  to  procure  supplies  by  Avhat  was  called  la 
maraude;  that  is  to  say,  neither  more  nor  less  than 
plunder. 

Authority  was  then  given  to  send  out  a  certain  number 
of  soldiers  of  each  company  to  obtain  provisions  at  each 
village  or  farm-house  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  road  by 
which  the  army  marched,  or  of  the  ground  on  which  it 
encamped.  These  soldiers  were  to  force  the  inhabitants 
to  deliver  these  provisions  without  payment  or  receipt; 
and  it  may  well  be  believed  that  these  acts  of  violence 
were  not  confined  to  forcing  the  delivery  of  provisions. 
Other  articles  of  value  were  taken  at  the  same  time,  and 
by  the  use  of  the  same  coercive  measures ;  and  it  is  not 
astonishing  that  officers  and  soldiers  so  employed  should 
become  habitual  plunderers. 

The  provisions  thus  brought  in  were  issued  among  the 
troops  under  the  command  of  the  officer  who  had  sent 
these  detatchments  on  the  maraude.  It  is  obvious  that 
even  this  system,  bad  as  it  was,  could  not  be  resorted  to 
with  any  prospect  of  success  where  the  country  through 
which  the  army  marched  was  thinly  peopled,  or  if  the 
army  was  making  extraordinary  forced  marches,  or  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  enemy;  but  it  must  be  observed, 
that  even  if  not  resorted  to  by  authority,  it  was  invariably 
by  the  private  soldiers,  and  not  unfrequently  by  the  officers, 
of  the  French  army,  on  their  own  account.  They  generally 
required  the  food  because  they  had  consumed  or  thrown 
away  the  enormous  loads  which  had  been  packed  upon 
them.  But  even  if  they  did  not  necessarily  require  it, 
biscuit  or  ammunition-bread,  and  the  meat  of  an  animal 
but  just  killed  after  a  forced  march,  is  but  bad  food  in 
comparison  with  what  can  be  got  from  almost  any  village 
in  the  country;  and,  in  addition  to  the  food,  the  man 
a  la  maraude  could  pick  up  money  and  other  valuable 
property. 

It  must  be  observed  that  a  French  army,  after  quitting 


APPENDIX  359 

its  magazines  or  a  friendly  country,  never  received  a  ration 
of  provisions  not  procured  by  la  maraude;  and  that  this 
army  which  entered  Russia,  from  the  time  it  quitted  the 
Niemen,  in  June  1812,  till  it  returned  to  Smolensk,  in 
November  1812,  excepting  perhaps  some  of  the  Guard, 
never  received  a  ration  which  was  not  procured  by  la 
maraude. 

In  all  these  accounts  it  is  frequently  stated  that 
Napoleon  complained  that  his  orders  were  not  obeyed, 
and  that  magazines  of  provisions  for  his  army  Avere  not 
formed,  upon  the  retreat,  at  the  places  at  which  he  had 
ordered  that  they  should  be  formed.  This  may  be  true. 
But  it  must  be  observed  that  these  orders  were  not  given 
as  other  Generals  at  the  head  of  armies  have  given  similar 
orders,  pointing  out  the  places  where,  and  the  means  by 
which,  these  provisions  were  to  be  collected  and  stored  in 
magazine  ;  and  by  supplying  the  money  necessary  to  pay 
for  their  cost.  There  was  but  one  resource  for  collecting 
these  magazines  ;  that  was,  la  iruiraiule. 

Officers  were  placed  in  fortified  houses  or  posts  in  the 
towns  and  villasres  on  the  high  road  from  Smolensk  to 
Moscow,  with  orders  to  collect  magazines  to  supply  the 
troops  in  the  post,  and  to  assist  the  reinforcements, 
recruits  and  traineurs,  coming  up  to  join  the  army,  and 
eventually  the  army  itself.  Was  money  placed  at  their 
disposal  to  purchase  these  supplies  in  a  country  overrun 
with  Jews,  who,  if  money  had  been  produced,  would  have 
procured  provisions  in  exchange  for  it  from  any  distance  ? 
No !  The  officer  in  command  of  such  post  was  to  plunder 
the  villages  in  his  neighbourhood,  already  ruined  and 
exhausted  by  the  passage  and  operations  of  two  hostile 
armies,  and  by  the  repeated  plunder  which  they  had 
suffered  by  detachments  or  single  traineurs. 

If  Napoleon  entertained  expectations  that  magazines 
would  have  been  formed  in  such  situations,  it  is  not 
astonishing  that  he  should  have  been  disappointed  on  his 


360       REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

retreat :  it  would  have  been  astonishing  if  any  officer 
had  been  able  to  collect  a  magazine  under  such  circum- 
stances. 

At  Smolensk  and  at  Orcha  on  the  Dnieper,  on  the 
return  of  the  army,  in  November  1812,  it  appears  that 
magazines  of  provisions  were  formed  ;  that  is  to  say,  some 
of  the  squadrons,  regiments,  and  brigades  of  carts  before 
mentioned  had  found  their  way  to,  and  had  discharged 
their  loads  into,  the  magazines  at  those  places ;  but  the 
army  was  at  that  time  in  such  a  state  of  disorganisation 
that  those  magazines  were  of  little  or  of  no  utility.  The 
truth  is,  that  nearly  the  whole  army  was,  from  the  period 
of  the  commencement  of  the  retreat,  a  la  Tnaraude  in  search 
of  provisions.  Nobody  would  believe  that  there  could  be 
any  regular  issue  of  provisions  from  any  magazine ;  and 
no  officer  or  soldier  would  join  his  corps  in  hopes  of  obtain- 
ing his  portion  of  such  an  issue.  Besides,  the  truth  is, 
that  the  officers  of  the  French  commissariat  and  the 
gardes  magasins,  etc.,  were  so  little  accustomed  to  make 
such  issues,  that  they  were  not  expert  in  the  performance 
of  this  part  of  their  duty.  They  performed  it  but  slowly ; 
and  men  who  were  starving  with  hunger  and  cold  were  but 
little  disposed  to  wait  to  satisfy  their  appetites  till  these 
persons  had  gone  through  all  the  formalities  required  by 
their  coniptabilite,  the  meaning  and  use  of  which  they  did 
not  understand.  It  is  not  astonishing,  then,  that  they 
should  have  eaten  the  horses  fit  for  service,  employed 
in  the  draught  of  pieces  of  cannon  upon  the  glacis  of 
Smolensk,  while  waiting  to  receive  their  rations  from  the 
magazines  in  that  town. 

The  system  of  the  French  army,  then,  was  the  cause  of 
its  irregularities,  disorders,  and  misfortunes;  and  of  its  loss. 

Let  us  now  see  what  was  gained  by  the  forced  marches 
which,  it  will  not  be  denied,  rendered  it  necessary  to  leave 
behind  all  the  means  of  supplying  the  army  which  the 
foresight  of  Napoleon  had  provided. 


APPENDIX  361 

The  ()l)ject  which  Napoleon  had  first  in  view  was  to 
oblige  the  Emperor  of  Russia  to  fight  a  great  battle,  or  to 
cut  off  one  of  his  detachments.  The  Emperor's  position  at 
Wilna,  and  the  entrenched  camp  prepared  at  Drissa,  on 
the  Dwina,  had  been  known  to  Napoleon  at  Paris  previous 
to  his  departure  from  thence.  The  information  was  con- 
firmed at  Dresden ;  and  the  conversation  and  boast  of  the 
army  was,  that  the  Emperor  of  Russia  should  there  be 
caught  en  flagrant  delit. 

In  order  to  effect  this  object,  the  army  was  to  move  by 
forced  marches,  first  from  its  cantonments  on  the  Vistula 
to  the  Niemen,  and  thence  to  the  Dwina. 

In  order  to  understand  these  movements,  it  is  necessary 
to  follow  them  in  some  detail.  Napoleon,  after  having 
remained  at  Dresden  twelve  days,  quitted  that  town  on 
the  29th  of  May.  He  stopped  at  Thorn  two  days,  at 
Dantzick  four  days,  at  Konigsberg  four  days,  at  Gum- 
binnen  two  days ;  and  he  arrived  opposite  Kowno,  on  the 
Niemen,  on  the  23rd  of  June. 

The  army  which  had  been  cantoned  on  the  Vistula 
broke  up  from  thence  about  the  1st  of  June,  and  marched 
in  different  columns  by  corps  and  by  forced  marches  to 
the  Niemen,  which  river  it  reached  in  different  points,  but 
principally  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Kowno,  on  the  23rd, 
and  commenced  to  cross  it  on  the  24th. 

From  the  Vistula  to  Vitepsk,  on  the  Dwina,  is  700  wersts, 
or  about  470  to  480  English  miles,  3  wersts  being  nearly 
equal  to  2  English  miles.  From  the  Vistula  to  the 
Niemen  is  about  half  the  distance.  The  whole  distance 
might  be  marched  by  an  army,  with  all  its  train,  in  forty 
marches;  in  fact,  an  army  would  march  with  facility  20 
wersts  in  a  day.  It  appears  therefore  that  up  to  the 
Niemen,  Napoleon  had  already  lost  four  days  in  compari- 
son with  an  army  moving  by  the  ordinary  marches.  Yet 
he  had  moved  by  forced  marches,  and  had  left  behind  all 
the  equipments  and  stores  of  provisions  which  his  fore- 


362      REMINISCENCES   OF    DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

knowledge  of  the  difficulties  of  his  enterprise  had  induced 
him  to  provide. 

Excepting  that  it  is  the  necessary  fate  of  a  French  army 
to  move  by  forced  marches,  there  was  no  occasion  for  the 
movement  in  this  manner  from  the  Vistula.  The 
Emperor  of  Russia  must  have  known  of  the  march  of 
his  enemy  from  the  cantonments  on  the  Vistula,  yet  he 
made  no  movement,  as  will  appear  presently,  till  the  26th 
of  June,  two  days  after  he  heard  that  the  head  of  the 
French  army  had  crossed  the  Niemen.  But  an  army 
which  makes  even  the  ordinary  march  cannot  procure 
provisions  for  everybody  by  la  niarawde.  There  is  not 
time.  The  modern  French  armies  therefore  move  by 
forced  marches  through  poor  and  thinly  inhabited 
countries,  and  halt  for  one  or  more  days  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  lar?e  towns,  or  in  the  richer  and  better  in- 
habited  districts,  for  the  sake  of  la  inaraude ;  and  thus 
the  time  is  consumed.  The  consequence  of  these  forced 
marches,  however,  is  that  the  troops,  and  the  horses  of  the 
array  in  particular,  become  knocked  up.  The  convoys  of 
provisions,  etc.,  are  necessarily  left  behind,  and  are  no 
longer  under  the  inspection  and  control  of  the  superior 
officers  of  the  army ;  robberies  and  other  disorders  are 
committed ;  and  it  happens  not  unfrequently  that  the 
stores  belonging  to  one  corps  of  the  army  are  plundered 
by  the  soldiers  of  another,  probably  a  la.  maraude  in  search 
of  provisions. 

It  appears,  then,  that  the  French  army  not  only  gained 
no  time,  but  lost  time  by  its  forced  marches  up  to  the 
Niemen.  Its  subsequent  operations  to  Vitepsk  shall  now 
be  examined. 

The  Emperor  of  Russia  had  four  armies.  The  first, 
under  Barclay  de  Tolly,  with  which  he  was  himself  in 
person,  had  its  headquarters  at  Wilna ;  its  right  was  at 
Keidany,  under  Wittgenstein  ;  its  centre  at  Swentziany,  on 
the  high  road  from  Wilna  to  the  camp  at  Drissa ;  and  its 


APPENDIX  363 

left  at  Lida,  under  Doctorof.  Its  numbers  were  126,500 
men,  includinf^  7000  Cossacks,  at  Grodno,  under  Platof, 
It  was  intended  to  concentrate  this  army  at  Swentziany 
as  soon  as  the  French  army  should  cross  the  Niemen ;  and 
that  from  thence  it  should  fall  back  upon  the  entrenched 
camp  at  Drissa.  These  movements  were  carried  into 
execution,  excepting  by  the  Cossacks  under  Platof,  and  a 
division  of  the  4th  Corps  under  General  Dorokhof,  which 
did  not  receive  in  time  its  orders  for  the  movement. 
These  troops  joined  Bagration,  and  retired  Avith  him. 
The  main  body  of  the  army  arrived  in  the  camp  at  Drissa 
on  the  11th  of  July. 

The  second  army  was  under  Bagration.  It  consisted  of 
39,000  men,  including  4000  Cossacks.  This  army  was 
besides  joined  by  Platof  with  his  Cossacks  from  Grodno, 
and  by  the  division  of  infantry  of  the  4tli  Corps  under 
General  Dorokhof.  Bagration's  headquarters  were  at 
Wolkowisk.  Those  of  Platof  at  Grodno.  One  Corps  of 
Bagration's  army  was  at  Novri-Dhor  and  another  at  Zelwa. 
It  must  be  observed  that  Grodno  and  Wolkowisk  were  70 
wersts  asunder,  and  each  80  wersts  from  Lida,  where  the 
left  of  Barclay's  army  was  posted ;  Lida  was  over  80  wersts 
farther  removed  from  the  camp  at  Drissa  than  Wilna, 
where  Napoleon  had  his  headquarters  on  the  28th  of 
July,  and  Wolkowisk  and  Grodno  were  150  wersts  farther 
removed  from  the  same  points  than  Wilna. 

It  is  not  necessary  now  to  detail  the  positions  of  the 
3rd  and  4th  armies.  The  third  Avas  in  Yolhynia,  under 
Tormasof :  the  fourth,  still  on  the  Turkish  frontier,  under 
Admiral  Tchitchakof. 

Bagration's  army  was  originally  destined  to  operate  in 
rear  of  the  right  of  the  French  army  which  should  cross 
the  Niemen,  but  that  destination  was  altered  by  the  orders 
received  by  Bagration  from  Barclay  de  Tolly  on  the  28th 
of  June,  the  day  on  which  Bagration  received  intelligence 
of  the  passage  of  the  Niemen  by  Napoleon.     It  was  found 


364      REMINISCENCES   OF    DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

that  the  King  of  Westphalia,  at  the  head  of  an  army,  sup- 
posed 80,000  men,  covered  that  movement  of  the  French 
army,  and  it  was  therefore  considered  useless  to  employ 
Bagration's  corps  against  such  a  force.  Barclay  de  Tolly 
accordingly  directed  him  to  march  by  Minsk  on  Borisof, 
and  thence  to  the  left  of  the  Berezina. 

Bagration  moved  on  that  evening  upon  Zelwa;  but 
upon  the  30th  he  received  fresh  orders  from  the  Emperor 
Alexander  directing  him  to  move  upon  the  camp  at 
Drissa. 

It  will  have  been  observed  that  he  received  these  orders 
two  days  after  Napoleon  had  estabhshed  his  headquarters 
in  Wilna,  and  that  Bagration  was  at  150  wersts  of  greater 
distance  to  the  camp  at  Drissa  than  the  troops  at  Wilna, 
or  seven  days'  march.  It  may  therefore  be  fairly  com- 
puted that  he  was  seven  days  too  late. 

Neither  Napoleon  nor  any  other  general  ever  had  so 
fair  an  opportunity  of  carrying  into  execution  his  favourite 
measure,  of  placing  his  army  on  the  communication  of 
that  of  his  enemy  by  cutting  the  army  of  the  enemy 
in  two. 

It  would  appear,  however,  that  he  was  not  aware  of  the 
advantage  he  had  over  his  enemy  till  the  30th  of  June. 
He  had  detached  all  the  cavalry  under  Murat  (with  the 
exception  of  the  corps  of  cavalry  under  Latour  Maubourg, 
and  that  under  Grouchy),  three  divisions  of  the  1st  Corps 
under  Count  de  Lobau,  the  2nd  Corps  under  Oudinot,  and 
the  3rd  Corps  under  Ney,  in  pursuit  of  Barclay  de  Tolly's 
army  towards  the  Dwina.  On  the  30th  June  a  patrol  of 
Davout's  fell  in  with  one  of  Doctorof's  at  Osmiana,  and  it 
was  then  that  the  nature  of  the  movement  of  Bagration 
was  known. 

The  5th  Corps  under  Poniatowsky,  the  7  th  under 
Regnier,  and  the  8th  under  the  King  of  Westphalia,  and 
Latour  Maubourg's  corps  of  cavalry,  had  been  collected  at 
Grodno,  and  were  under  the  command  of  the  King  of 


APPENDIX  365 

Westphalia.  These  troops,  except  the  7th  Corps,  which 
was  sent  to  join  Schwarzenberg,  were  sent  in  pursuit  of 
Bagration ;  while  three  divisions  of  the  1st  Corps  under 
Davout,  and  the  corps  of  cavalry  under  Grouchy,  were 
detached  from  the  side  of  Wilna  upon  Bagration's  right 
flank. 

Bagration  was  even  forced  to  give  up  the  direct  line  of 
his  march  upon  Drissa;  next  that  by  Minsk  and  Borisof; 
and  he  passed  the  Berezina  with  some  difficulty  at 
Bobruisk,  which  post  had  been  fortified.  He  then 
marched  upon  the  Dnieper  and  endeavoured  to  pass  that 
river  at  Mohilef,  but  failed  in  consequence  of  having  been 
repulsed  in  an  attack  which  he  made  upon  Davout,  near 
that  town,  on  the  23rd  July.  He  then  crossed  the 
Dnieper,  on  the  2(3th  July,  lower  down,  at  Staroi-Bickoff, 
and  marched  upon  Smolensk,  where  he  formed  his 
junction  with  Barclay  de  Tolly  on  the  1st  and  2nd  of 
August. 

During  these  movements  by  forced  marches  of  the 
wings  of  his  army.  Napoleon  remained  at  Wilna  with  the 
Guard  and  the  4-th  Corps  under  the  Viceroy,  and  the  Gth 
Corps  under  St.  Cyr,  till  the  16th  of  July,  when  he  like- 
wise moved  with  those  troops  towards  the  Dwina.  The 
troops  had  moved  on  the  12th  and  following  days;  the 
Russian  army  quitted  the  camp  of  Drissa  on  the  14th  of 
July,  crossed  the  river  Dwina,  and  marched  by  the  right 
bank  to  Polotsk,  where  it  arrived  on  the  ISth.  The 
Emperor  there  quitted  the  army,  and  went  to  Moscow. 
The  army  renewed  its  march  on  the  20th,  and  went  by 
the  right  bank  to  Vitepsk,  where  it  arrived  on  the  23rd, 
having  again  crossed  the  Dwina,  and  took  up  a  position  on 
the  Luczissa,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Dwina,  with  the  right 
flank  to  that  river. 

Wittgenstein's  corps  was  left  behind  on  the  right  of  the 
Dwina  to  observe  the  road  to  St.  Petersburg.  The  French 
army,  with  the  exception  of  the  2nd  Corps  under  Oudinot, 


366       REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

which  was  left  upon  the  lower  Dwina  opposed  to  Wittgen- 
stein, followed  on  the  left  of  the  Dwina  the  movement  of 
the  Russian  army  on  the  right  bank ;  and  the  whole,  joined 
with  the  Guard  and  the  4th  Corps,  at  Beszenkowiczy,  on 
the  24th  of  July. 

There  was  an  affair  of  advanced  guards  the  next  day,  at 
Ostrowno ;  the  Russians  retired,  and  the  French  army  en 
miasse  moved  forward  upon  Vitepsk  ;  and  the  two  armies 
were  en  ^^resence  near  Vitepsk  early  on  the  27th  of  July. 

The  object  of  the  Russian  movement  from  the  camp  at 
Drissa  was  to  effect  the  junction  with  Bagration,  who  had 
been  ordered  to  move  upon  Vitepsk,  by  Orcha;  and 
Barclay  de  Tolly  would  have  fought  a  battle  to  secure  the 
junction.  On  the  evening  of  the  27th  of  July,  however, 
Barclay  de  Tolly  learnt  that  Bagration,  having  been 
repulsed  on  the  23rd,  in  his  attack  upon  Davout,  near 
Mohilef,  was  under  the  necessity  of  passing  the  Dnieper 
lower  down ;  that  he  could  not  therefore  move  upon 
Orcha  and  Vitepsk,  but  that  he  would  march  upon 
Smolensk. 

Barclay  de  Tolly  therefore  marched  in  the  night  of  the 
27th  of  July  towards  Smolensk,  where  he  effected  his 
junction  with  Bagration  on  the  1st  and  2nd  of  August. 

Napoleon  might  have  attacked  the  Russian  army  on 
the  27th,  in  the  afternoon,  or  he  might  have  posted  troops 
on  their  flank  in  such  manner  as  that  their  movement  must 
have  been  known  to  him  as  soon  as  it  should  be  made. 
But  this  precaution  was  neglected ;  and  the  Russian  army 
made  a  retreat  so  clean,  and  in  such  regular  order,  as  that 
some  time  elapsed  before  it  was  known  by  what  route  they 
had  marched.  Indeed  this  want  of  knowledge  of  the 
movements  of  their  enemy  from  positions  in  their  sight 
was  more  frequent  in  the  armies  commanded  by  Napoleon 
than  in  any  other.  It  occurred  again  at  Smolensk,  once 
before  and  once  after  the  battle  of  Borodino,  and  again  in 
a  very  remarkable  manner  at  the  capture  of  Moscow. 


APPENDIX  367 

Thus  it  appears  that  the  object  of  all  these  forced 
marches  was  frustrated.  There  had  Ijecn  no  battle  and 
the  two  Russian  corps  were  joined. 

The  French  army  had  suffered  severely  by  the  forced 
marches  which  it  had  made;  all  its  supplies  had  been  left 
behind,  and  a  halt  at  Vitepsk  became  necessary.  Se^^ur 
asserts  that  the  plan  was  here  altered,  which  is  denied 
by  Gourgaud ;  ^  but  whether  it  was  or  not,  it  is  obvious 
that  the  distress  of  the  army  was  imminent,  that  their 
losses  were  already  immense,  and  that  the  seeds  of  their 
destruction  were  laid. 

But  not  only  was  the  object  of  the  forced  marches  lost, 
but  time,  still  more  precious,  was  lost.  The  army  had 
been  fifty-seven  days  from  its  cantonments  on  the  Vistula 
to  Vitepsk,  the  distance  being  700  wersts,  which  might 
have  been  marched  with  ease  in  thirty-five  or  forty  days. 

But  I  will  go  farther,  and  assert  that  the  loss  of  time  by 
Napoleon  in  these  first  operations  was  the  cause  of  the 
failure  in  effecting  the  object  for  which  they  were  under- 
taken. It  is  obvious  that  the  corps  of  troops  which 
pursued  Barclay  do  Tolly  were  too  strong  for  that  officer 
to  attempt  to  turn  round  and  meet  them  in  the  field,  as 
were  those  under  the  King  of  Westphalia  and  Davout 
much  too  strong  to  be  opposed  by  Bagration. 

Napoleon  had  the  advantage  of  knowing  to  a  certainty 
before  he  commenced  this  war  what  his  enemy's  first  move- 
ment would  be.  The  entrenched  camp  of  Drissa  was  the 
position  of  his  enemy's  reserves  and  magazines;  it  was 
near  the  road  to  Petersburg;  and  the  position  of  the 
Russian  army  behind  the  Niemen,  and  of  the  head- 
quarters at  Wilna,  showed  that  the  first  movement  would 
be  upon  this  camp. 

Napoleon  must  be  supposed  to  have  made  up  his  mind 
as  to  what  his  object  was  in  the  war,  and  that  this  object 

1  Napoleon  et  la  Orande-Armde  en  Ruasit ;  par  le  General  Gcourgaud. 
Paris,  1825. 


368      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

was  Moscow.  He  might  then  with  safety  have  left  his 
wings  to  pursue  the  enemy  opposed  to  them  respectively ; 
and  he  might  himself,  with  the  Guards  and  the  4th  Corps, 
have  moved  direct  upon  Vitepsk  from  Wilna,  or  upon 
Rudnia,  or  even  upon  Smolensk.  He  ought  to  have  made 
this  movement  as  soon  as  possible  after  his  arrival  at  Wilna ; 
and  certainly  as  soon  as  he  had  received  positive  intelli- 
gence of  the  position  of  Bagration.  No  forced  marches 
would  in  that  case  have  been  required ;  he  might  have 
moved  direct  upon  Moscow  from  Wilna  by  the  ordinary 
marches.  He  would  have  found  himself  at  Vitepsk  on 
the  20th  of  July,  leaving  Wilna  as  late  as  the  4th  of  July, 
with  above  120,000  men  between  the  two  armies  of  the 
enemy,  with  no  force  in  his  front,  with  all  their  lines  of 
communication  at  his  mercy,  and  with  a  superior  army 
following  each  of  theirs  ;  and  he  would  have  been  accom- 
panied by  all  the  resources  and  equipments  avowedly 
necessary  to  enable  his  army  to  keep  the  field  in  such  a 
country  as  Russia. 

On  that  day  Barclay  de  Tolly  was  still  at  Polotsk  on 
the  Dwina,  having  remained  in  the  camp  at  Drissa  only 
three  days,  and  Bagration  still  on  the  right  of  the  Dnieper, 
below  Mohilef,  and  Napoleon  would  have  had  it  in  his 
power  to  choose  whether  to  attack  either,  or  to  continue 
his  march  to  Moscow  between  both.  This  advantage  was 
lost,  however,  by  the  unaccountable  delay  at  Wilna,  from 
the  28th  of  June  to  the  16  th  of  July. 

In  the  meantime  Barclay  de  Tolly  made  a  flank  march 
along  the  whole  front  of  the  enemy's  army  of  not  much 
less  than  250  wersts,  and  ended  by  effecting  his  junction 
with  Bagration  at  Smolensk,  on  the  1st  and  2nd  of  August, 
thus  defeating  his  enemy  in  all  his  objects.  His  troops 
were  collected  ;  they  had  sustained  no  defeat.  They  were 
posted  on  their  own  line  of  communication  with  the  points 
and  provinces  which  they  were  destined  to  defend ;  and 
they  were  evidently  in  a  better  position,  and  in  better  con- 


APPENDIX  369 

dition  for  the  future  operations  of  the  campaign  than  were 
those  of  his  enemy. 

Napoleon  halted  at  Vitepsk ;  and  the  armies  were  then 
posted  as  follows  in  the  beginning  of  August. 

The  Grand  Russian  Army  at  Smolensk.  The  corps  of 
Wittgenstein  on  the  left  of  the  Dwina,  at  Osweia,  in 
observation  of  the  movements  of  the  French  in  that 
quarter  ;  the  corps  of  Tormasof,  in  Yolhynia,  opposed  to 
the  Austrian  corps  under  Prince  Schwarzenberg ;  and  the 
7th  Corps  of  the  French  army  under  General  Regnier, 
which  had  been  sent  back  from  the  army  commanded  by 
the  King  of  Westphalia  in  order  to  co-operate  with  Prince 
Schwarzenberg  against  Tormasof.  There  was  a  Russian 
garrison  in  Bobruisk,  on  the  Berezina,  and  a  corps  of 
15,000  men,  under  General  Hoertel,  at  Mozyr. 

Tchitchakof  s  army  was  still  upon  the  Danube. 

The  French  army  was  stationed  as  follows,  begiiming 
with  the  right.  The  Austrian  corps  under  Prince 
Schwarzenberg,  and  the  7th  Corps  of  the  French  army, 
were  upon  the  Bug  opposed  to  Tormasof.  Latour 
Maubourg's  corps  of  cavalry  was  blockading  Bobruisk; 
but  was  at  this  time  relieved  by  Dombrowsky's  division 
of  the  5th  corps:  and  Latour  Maubourg  joined  the 
army. 

The  5th  Corps  under  Poniatowsky,  the  8th  Corps  under 
Junot  (the  King  of  Westphalia  having  withdrawn  from 
the  army  in  disgust),  were  upon  the  Dnieper,  between 
Orcha  and  Mohilef.  The  corps  of  cavalry  under  Grouchy, 
and  the  three  divisions  of  the  corps  under  Davout,  were 
cantoned  between  the  Dnieper  and  the  Berezina.  These 
were  the  troops  which  had  followed  Bagration. 

The  Guards,  three  divisions  of  the  1st  Corps,  the  3rd 
Corps  under  Ney,  the  4th  Corps  under  the  Viceroy,  and 
all  the  cavalry,  with  the  exception  of  the  corps  under 
Latour  Maubourg,  at  Bobruisk,  were  with  Napoleon  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Vitepsk,  being  cantoned   between  the 

2  A 


370      REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

Dwina  and  the  Dnieper,  and  along  the  Dwina  as  far  as 
Souraij. 

The  2nd  Corps,  under  Oudinot,  was  lower  do^vn  the 
Dwina,  at  Polotsk,  in  observation  of  Wittsfenstein. 

The  6th  Corps  on  its  march  to  join  Oudinot. 

The  10th  Corps  under  Marshal  Macdonald,  consisting  of 
the  Prussian  corps  and  other  troops,  was  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Riga,  being  destined  to  carry  on  the  siege  of  that 
fortress. 

On  the  31st  of  July  Oudinot  had  an  affair  with  the  corps 
under  Wittgenstein,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Kliastisky, 
on  the  road  from  Polotsk  towards  St.  Petersburg,  but  he 
was  obliged  to  retire.  Napoleon  then  reinforced  this 
corps  by  joining  to  it  the  6th  Corps,  consisting  of  25,000 
men  under  St.  Cyr.  Excepting  this  affair,  and  an  un- 
successful attack  upon  Oudinot  and  St.  Cyr,  joined  at 
Polotsk  on  the  19th  of  August,  nothing  important  was 
done  on  either  side  on  this  flank  of  the  army  from  that 
period  till  the  end  of  October.  Macdonald  had  collected 
at  Mittau  the  means  of  making  the  siege  of  Riga ;  but  the 
place  was  not  even  invested. 

There  were  thus  on  the  left  flank  of  the  army  upon  the 
Dwina  the  3rd  Corps  of  37,000  men  under  Oudinot,  the 
6th  Corps  of  25,000  under  St.  Cyr,  the  10th  Corps  of 
33,000  men  under  Macdonald. 

On  the  right  flank  of  the  army  Schwarzenberg  and 
Regnier,  after  beating  General  Tormasof  in  an  affair  at 
Gorodeczna  on  the  12th  of  August,  obliged  him  to  retire 
beyond  the  Styr  River  on  the  29th  of  August. 

The  Austrian  corps  consisted  of  34,000  men,  of  which 
7300  were  cavalry ;  the  7th  Corps,  under  Regnier,  had 
17,000  men. 

Affairs  remained  in  this  situation  on  this  flank  till 
Tchitchakof,  from  the  Danube,  joined  Tormasof  on  the 
Styr,  The  army  of  the  Danube,  consisting  of  40,000 
men,  commenced  its  march,  on  the  1st  of  August,  from 


APPENDIX  371 

Bucharest,  and  arrived  upon  the  Styr  on  the  16th  of 
September.  The  two  Russian  armies  in  this  quarter,  when 
joined,  Avere  00,000  men. 

The  accounts  are  contradictory  respecting  the  objects  of 
Napoleon's  halt  at  Vitepsk.  This  measure  was  certainly 
necessary  for  his  army,  already  exhausted  by  its  useless 
and  fruitless  forced  marches.  Segur  asserts  that  Napoleon 
intended  to  take  up  his  position  for  the  winter  at  that 
point ;  that  he  commenced  the  improvement  of  his  head- 
quarters ;  and  various  conversations  are  reported  in  which 
that  determination  is  positively  stated.  Reasons  are  not 
wanting  which  would  have  made  that  appear  to  be  the 
preferable  plan  for  Napoleon. 

It  must  be  observed  respecting  S6gur  that  he  filled  the 
office  about  headquarters  which  was  most  likely  to  give 
a  man  of  talents,  which  he  certainly  is,  the  means  and 
opportunity  of  knowing  all  that  passed.  His  particular 
duty  was  to  take  up  and  distribute  the  quarters  in  the 
headquarters  of  the  army.  It  is  not  improbable  that  in 
making  this  distribution  he  took  care  of  himself;  and  he 
doubtless  had  a  very  agreeable  house,  wherever  such  was 
to  be  had.  No  officer  could  have  gone  to  or  from  head- 
quarters without  communicating  with  Segur;  and  most 
probably,  indeed  certainly,  if  he  is  the  man  of  ability  he 
appears,  he  must  have  heard  the  story  of  every  officer 
who  arrived  at  or  departed  from  headquarters  both 
before  and  after  he  had  seen  Napoleon ;  and  as  he  had  no 
occupation  excepting  that  of  superintending  the  distribu- 
tion of  the  quarters  at  headquarters,  he  must  have  had 
ample  time  to  hear  everything.  There  cannot,  then,  be  a 
better  authority  than  Segur ;  and  it  must  be  observed  that 
he  is  a  great  admirer  of  Napoleon ;  and  those  who  know 
the  French  army  will  see  that  Segur  is  not  a  /aiw;  frere. 

The  intention  of  remaining  at  Vitepsk  is,  however, 
positively  denied  by  others  of  great  authority  ;  and  it  does 
appear  extraordinary  that  Napoleon  should  in  the  month 


372      REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

of  July  take  up  his  quarters  for  the  winter.  However, 
whether  he  ever  did  or  not  seriously  intend  to  take  up  his 
quarters  at  Vitepsk,  he  afterwards  abandoned  that  inten- 
tion, and  on  the  12th  of  August  made  a  great  movement, 
which  it  is  the  next  object  of  this  paper  to  discuss. 

The  Russian  army  at  Smolensk,  seeing  the  manner  in 
which  the  French  army  was  dispersed  in  cantonments 
between  the  river  Dwina  and  Dnieper,  moved,  on  the  7th 
of  August,  towards  Rudnia  in  order  to  beat  up  their 
quarters.  They  succeeded  in  surprising  those  of  Sebastiani, 
and  did  him  a  good  deal  of  mischief  in  an  attack  upon 
Inkowo.  In  the  meantime  Barclay  de  Tolly  was  alarmed 
by  a  movement  made  by  the  Viceroy  about  Souraij,  on 
the  Dwina,  and  he  countermanded  the  original  plan  of 
operations  with  a  view  to  extend  his  right  flank ;  and  for 
some  days  afterwards  the  Russian  army  made  various 
false  movements,  and  was  in  a  considerable  degree  of 
confusion.  Whether  Napoleon's  plan  was  founded  upon 
the  march  of  the  Russian  army  from  Smolensk,  as 
supposed  by  Segur,  or  upon  their  position  at  Smolensk 
in  the  first  days  of  August,  he  carried  it  into  execution 
notwithstanding  that  march. 

Accordingly,  he  broke  up  his  cantonments  upon  the 
Dwina  on  the  10th  of  August,  and  marched  his  army  in 
different  columns  by  corps  across  the  front  of  the  Russian 
army  from  these  cantonments  to  Rassassna  upon  the 
Dnieper.  The  false  movements  made  by  the  Russian 
army  between  the  7th  and  the  12th  of  August  prevented 
their  obtaining  early  knowledge  of  this  march ;  and  they 
were  not  in  a  situation  to  be  able  to  take  advantage  of  it. 
On  the  other  hand,  Napoleon  could  have  had  no  knowledge 
of  the  false  movements  made  by  the  Russian  army. 

Being  arrived  at  Rassassna,  where  he  was  joined  by 
Davout  Avith  three  divisions  of  the  1st  Corps,  etc.,  he 
crossed  the  Dnieper  on  the  14th.  The  corps  of  Poniatowski 
and  Junot  were  at  the  same  time  moving  upon  Smolensk 
direct  from  Mohilef. 


APPENDIX  373 

Napoleon  moved  on  upon  Smolensk. 

The  garrison  of  that  place,  a  division  of  infantry,  under 
General  Newerowskoi,  had  come  out  as  far  as  Krasnoi  in 
order  to  observe  the  movements  of  the  French  troops  on 
the  left  of  the  Dnieper  supposed  to  be  advancing  along 
the  Dnieper  from  Orcha.  Murat  attacked  this  body  of 
troops  with  all  his  cavalry ;  but  they  made  good  their 
retreat  to  Smolensk.  Murat  endeavoured  to  destroy  this 
body  of  troops  by  repeated  charges  of  his  cavalry.  These 
charges  were  of  little  avail,  however ;  and  this  operation 
affords  another  instance  of  the  security  mth  which  good 
infantry  can  stand  the  attack  of  cavalry.  This  division, 
of  about  6000  infantry,  had  no  artificial  defence,  excepting 
two  rows  of  trees  on  each  side  of  the  road,  of  which  they 
certainly  availed  themselves.  But  the  use  made  even  of 
this  defence  shows  how  small  an  obstacle  will  impede  and 
check  the  operations  of  the  cavalry. 

It  would  probably  have  been  more  advisable  if  Murat, 
hearing  of  the  movement  of  Poniatowsky  and  Junot 
direct  from  Mohilef  upon  Smolensk,  had  not  pushed  this 
body  of  troops  too  hard.  They  might  have  been  induced 
to  delay  on  their  retreat  in  order  effectually  to  reconnoitre 
their  enemy.  The  fort  would  undoubtedly  in  that  case 
have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  Poniatowski. 

On  the  17th  of  August  Napoleon  assembled  the  whole 
of  the  operating  army  before  Smolensk,  on  the  left  of  the 
Dnieper.     It  consisted  as  follows : 


Men. 

The  cavalry  under  Murat,    . 

40,000 

Guards,         .... 

47,000 

1st  Corps,  Davout, 

72,000 

3rd  Corps,  Ney,    . 

39,000 

4th  Corps,  the  Viceroy, 

45,000 

5th  Corps,  Poniatowski, 

36,000 

8th  Corps,  Junot, 

18,000 

297,000 


374      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

These  corps  had,  about  six  weeks  before,  entered  the 
country  with  the  numbers  above  stated.  They  had  had 
no  military  affair  to  occasion  loss,  yet  Segur  says  they 
were  then  reduced  to  185,000.  The  returns  of  the  3rd 
August  are  stated  to  have  given  those  numbers  only. 

The  town  had  been  attacked  on  the  16th,  first  by  a 
battalion  (really  a  division)  of  the  3rd  Corps,  which  troops 
were  repulsed. 

In  the  meantime  Bagration  moved  upon  Katan  upon 
the  Dnieper,  having  heard  of  Napoleon's  movement  from 
the  Dwina,  and  Barclay  de  Tolly  having  authorised  the 
resumption  of  the  plan  of  operations  in  pursuance  of  which 
the  Russian  army  had  broken  up  from  Smolensk  on  the 
7th,  he  moved  thence,  on  the  16th,  along  the  right  of  the 
Dnieper  back  upon  Smolensk.  He  immediately  re- 
inforced the  garrison  of  Smolensk.  He  was  followed  that 
night  by  Barclay  de  Tolly,  who  relieved  the  troops  under 
the  command  of  Bagration  which  were  in  the  town ;  and 
the  whole  Russian  army  was  collected  at  Smolensk,  on 
the  right  of  the  Dnieper. 

Bagration  moved  during  the  same  night  with  his  army 
towards  Dorogobouje,  on  the  road  to  Moscow.  Barclay 
remained  in  support  of  the  troops  in  Smolensk. 

Napoleon,  after  waiting  till  two  o'clock  in  expectation 
that  Barclay  would  cross  the  Dnieper,  and  move  out  of 
Smolensk  and  fight  a  general  battle,  attacked  the  town 
on  the  17th  with  his  whole  army,  and  was  repulsed  with 
loss;  and  in  the  evening  the  Russian  troops  resumed 
possession  of  all  the  outposts.  Barclay,  however,  with- 
drew the  garrison  in  the  night  of  the  17th,  and  destroyed 
the  bridges  of  communication  upon  the  Dnieper  between 
the  fort  and  the  town. 

The  enemy  crossed  the  Dnieper  by  fords,  and  obtained 
for  a  moment  possession  of  the  faubourg  of  Petersburg, 
on  the  right  of  that  river,  but  were  driven  back.  The 
Russian  army,  after  remaining  all  day  on  the  right  of  the 


APPENDIX  375 

river,  opposite  Smolensk,  retired  on  the  night  of  the 
18th :  and  the  French  that  night  repaired  the  bridges 
on  the  Dnieper. 

Before  I  proceed  farther  with  the  narrative,  it  is 
necessary  to  consider  a  little  this  movement  of  Napoleon's, 
which  is  greatly  admired  by  all  the  Avriters  upon  the 
subject.  When  this  movement  was  undertaken,  the 
communication  of  the  army  was  necessarily  removed 
entirely  from  the  Dwina.  Instead  of  proceeding  from 
Wilna  upon  Vitepsk,  it  proceeded  from  Wilna  upon  Minsk, 
where  a  great  magazine  was  formed ;  and  thence  across 
the  Berezina  upon  Orcha  upon  the  Dnieper ;  and  thence 
upon  Smolensk. 

The  consequences  of  this  alteration  will  appear  presently 
when  we  come  to  consider  of  the  retreat.  It  is  obvious 
that  the  position  of  the  great  magazine  at  Minsk  brought 
the  communications  of  the  army  necessarily  upon  the 
Berezina ;  and  eventually  within  the  influence  of  the 
operations  of  the  Russian  armies  from  the  southward. 

Napoleon's  objects  by  the  movement  might  have  been 
three.  First,  to  force  the  Russians  to  a  general  battle ; 
secondly,  to  obtain  possession  of  Smolensk  without  the 
loss  or  the  delay  of  a  siege ;  thirdly,  to  endeavour  again 
to  obtain  a  position  in  rear  of  the  Russian  army  upon  their 
communications  with  Moscow,  and  with  the  southern 
provinces  of  the  Russian  empire. 

This  movement  is  nmch  admired  and  extolled  by  the 
Russian  as  well  as  the  French  writers  upon  this  war,  yet 
if  it  is  tried  by  the  only  tests  of  any  military  movements, 
its  objects  compared  with  its  risks  and  dithculties,  and 
its  success  compared  with  the  same  risks  and  ditiiculties, 
and  with  the  probable  risks  and  the  probably  successful 
result  of  other  movements  to  attain  the  same  objects,  it 
will  be  found  to  have  failed  completely. 

The  risk  has  been  stated  to  con.sist,  first,  in  the  march 
of  the   ditterent   corps   from   their  cantonments  on   the 


376       REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

Dwina  to  Rassassna  on  the  Dnieper,  across  the  front  of 
the  Russian  army,  ^v^thout  the  protection  of  a  body  of 
troops  posted  for  that  purpose:  and  next,  in  the  risk 
incurred  in  removing  the  communication  of  the  army 
from  Vitepsk  to  Minsk.     This  will  be  discussed  presently. 

In  respect  to  the  first  object,  that  of  bringing  the 
Russian  army  to  a  general  action,  it  must  be  obvious  to 
everybody  that  the  fort  of  Smolensk  and  the  Dnieper 
river  were  between  Napoleon  and  the  Russian  army  when 
his  movement  was  completed,  and  the  armies  not  only 
in  sight,  but  within  musket-shot  of  each  other.  It  was 
impossible  for  Napoleon  to  bring  his  enemy  to  an  action 
on  that  ground  without  his  consent ;  and  as  the  ground 
would  not  have  been  advantageous  to  the  Russian  army, 
and  an  misuccessful  or  even  a  doubtful  result  would  not 
have  saved  Smolensk,  and  there  was  no  object  sufficiently 
important  to  induce  the  Russian  General  to  incur  the  risk 
of  an  unsuccessful  result  of  a  general  action,  it  was  not 
very  probable  that  he  would  move  into  the  trap  which 
Segur  describes  as  laid  for  him. 

Neither  was  it  likely  that  Napoleon  would  take 
Smolensk  by  any  assault  which  this  movement  might 
enable  him  to  make  upon  that  place.  He  had  no  heavy 
artillery ;  and  he  tried  in  vain  to  take  the  place  by  storm, 
first  by  a  battalion,  then  by  a  division,  and  lastly  by  the 
whole  army.  He  obtained  possession  of  Smolensk  at  last 
only  because  the  Russian  General  had  made  no  previous 
arrangements  for  occupying  the  place  ;  and  Barclay  kncAv 
that  if  he  left  a  garrison  there  unprovided,  it  must  fall 
into  Napoleon's  hands  a  few  days  sooner  or  later.  The 
Russian  General  then  thought  proper  to  evacuate  the  place 
when  he  retired  his  army  from  it ;  and  notwithstanding 
the  position  of  Napoleon  on  the  left  of  the  Dnieper,  and 
his  attempts  to  take  the  place  by  storm,  the  Russian 
General  would  have  maintained  the  possession  if  he  could 
either  have  maintained  the  position  of  his  own  army  in 


APPENDIX  377 

the  neighbourhood,  or  have  supplied  the  place  adequately 
before  he  retired  from  it. 

The  possession  of  the  place  depended,  then,  upon  the 
position  of  the  Russian  army ;  and  what  follows  will  show 
that  other  measures  than  those  adopted,  and  other  move- 
ments, were  better  calculated  to  dislodge  the  Russian  army 
from  Smolensk  than  that  which  was  made.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  that  upon  Napoleon's  arrival  at  Smolensk  he  had 
gained  six  marches  upon  his  enemy. 

If  Napoleon,  when  he  crossed  the  Dnieper  at  Rassassna, 
had  masked  Smolensk,  and  marched  direct  upon  any 
point  of  the  Dnieper  above  that  place,  and  there  placed 
his  bridges,  he  would  indeed  have  posted  himself  with  his 
whole  army  upon  the  communications  of  his  enemy  with 
Moscow,  and  his  enemy  would  scarcely  have  attempted  to 
pass  across  his  front  to  seek  the  road  by  Kalougha.  He 
must  have  gone  to  the  northward,  evacuating  or  leaving 
Smolensk  to  its  fate  ;  and  Napoleon  might  have  continued 
his  march  upon  Moscow,  keeping  his  position  constantly 
between  his  enemy  and  his  communications  with  that 
city  and  with  the  southern  provinces.  The  fate  of 
Smolensk  could  not  have  been  doubtful. 

Here  then  a  different  mode  of  manoeuvring,  even  upon 
the  same  plan,  would  have  produced  without  loss  two  of 
the  three  objects  which  Napoleon  is  supposed  to  have  had 
in  view  by  these  movements.  But  these  were  not  the 
only  movements  in  his  power  at  that  time. 

The  Viceroy  is  stated  to  have  been  at  Souraij  and  Velij. 
If,  instead  of  moving  by  his  right.  Napoleon  had  moved 
by  his  left,  and  brought  the  1st,  5th,  and  8th  Corps  from 
the  Dnieper  to  form  the  reserve,  and  had  marched  from 
Souraij  upon  any  point  of  the  Upper  Dnieper,  he  would 
equally  have  put  himself  in  the  rear  of  his  enemy  upon  his 
communications. 

He  would  have  effected  this  object  with  more  certainty 
if  he  could  have  ventured  to  move  the  1st  and  the  5th 


378       REMINISCENCES    OF  DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

and  8th  Corps  through  the  country  on  the  left  of  the 
Dnieper;  and  in  this  last  movement  there  would  have 
been  no  risk ;  first,  because  Napoleon's  mancEUvres  upon 
the  Dwina  would  have  attracted  all  the  enemy's  attention ; 
secondly,  because  these  corps  would  all  have  passed 
Smolensk  before  the  Russian  Generals  could  have  known 
of  their  movement,  in  like  manner  as  Napoleon  passed 
the  Dnieper,  and  arrived  at  Smolensk  without  their  know- 
ledge. 

By  either  of  these  modes  of  proceeding  Napoleon  would 
have  cut  off  his  enemy  from  their  communication;  would 
have  obliged  them  to  fight  a  battle  to  regain  it ;  and  in 
all  probability  Smolensk  would  have  fallen  into  his  bands 
without  loss,  with  its  buildinsfs  entire.  Either  of  these 
last  modes  of  effecting  the  object  would  have  been  shorter 
by  two  marches  than  the  movements  of  the  whole  army 
upon  Rassassna. 

The  advantage  for  the  French  army  of  this  position 
upon  the  Upper  Dnieper  was  so  obvious  that  Barclay  de 
Tolly  would  not  allow  a  night  to  pass  over  his  head  Avith- 
out  occupying  it.  Accordingly,  on  the  very  night  of  his 
arrival,  that  of  the  16th,  at  Smolensk,  he  sent  off  Bagra- 
tion  along  the  Dnieper  to  proceed  as  far  as  Dorogobouje. 
He  retired  himself  on  the  night  of  the  18th,  and  proceeded 
at  first  for  some  worsts  along  the  road  from  Smolensk  to 
St.  Petersburg,  and  thence  turned  to  the  right  to  join  the 
road  from  Smolensk  to  Moscow.  The  point  of  communi- 
cation of  the  two  roads  is  at  Loubino.  Barclay  de  Tolly's 
object  in  moving  by  the  road  of  St.  Petersburg  was  to 
avoid  the  loss  which  his  troops  would  have  sustained  by 
the  fire  of  his  enem}' 's  cannon  from  the  left  of  the  Dnieper. 
But  he  ought  to  have  kept  a  sufficient  rear -guard  in 
front  of  Loubino  in  order  to  protect  the  movement  of  his 
army  from  the  Petersburg  to  the  Moscow  road  at  that 
point. 

On  the  morning  after  the  retreat  of  the  Russian  army 


APPENDIX  379 

Marshal  Ney  crossed  the  Dnieper :  and  here  again  the 
movement  of  the  Russians  had  been  so  clean,  and  had 
been  so  little  observed  by  their  enemies,  that  Marshal  Ney 
halted  some  time  before  he  determined  by  which  of  the 
routes  he  would  pursue  the  enemy. 

He  first  moved  by  the  route  of  St.  Petersburg,  but 
Napoleon  stopped  him ;  he  then  moved  by  that  from 
Smolensk  to  Moscow.  He  very  soon  overtook  the 
enemy's  rear-guard,  when  an  affair  ensued  in  which  both 
sides  sustained  great  loss.  The  Russians,  however,  having 
reinforced  their  rear-guard,  were  enabled  to  maintain  their 
position  during  a  sufficient  length  of  time  for  their  army 
to  pass  Loubino,  the  point  at  which  the  road  of  communi- 
cation with  the  high-road  from  Smolensk  to  St.  Petersburg 
joins  the  high-road  from  Smolensk  to  Moscow.  As  soon 
as  the  whole  army  had  passed  Loubino,  the  Russian  rear- 
guard retired. 

Davout  supported  Marshal  Ney.  The  failure  of  the 
operation  of  the  day  is  attributed  to  Junot,  who,  hav- 
ing been  detached  from  Smolensk  to  cross  the  Dnieper  at 
Prouditchevo,  upon  the  left  flank  of  the  Russian  rear- 
guard, omitted  to  move  forward  after  he  had  crossed 
the  Dnieper  with  his  corps. 

It  must  be  observed,  however,  that  parts  of  three  corps 
d'armee  having  been  engaged  in  this  operation.  Napoleon 
ought  to  have  been  on  the  ground  himself  to  superintend 
and  direct  their  movements. 

The  French  army  was  formed  into  what  were  called  Corps 
d'Armee,  each  commanded  by  a  King,  the  Viceroy,  a 
Marshal,  or  a  General  Officer  having  pretensions  founded 
upon  former  services  to  be  promoted  to  that  rank.  Each 
corps  d'armee  was  composed  of  officers  and  troops  of  all 
arms,  and  completely  equipped  with  bridges,  artillery, 
commissariat,  etc.,  to  enable  the  corps  to  act  separately  as 
an  array.  A  corps  d'armee  consisted  of  from  six  to  two 
divisions  of  troops,  each   commanded   by  a   General   de 


380      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

Division.  Each  division  of  three  or  two  brigades,  each 
commanded  by  a  General  de  Brigade.  Each  brigade  con- 
sisted of  three  or  two  regiments,  and  each  regiment  of 
three  or  two  battahons.  A  division  upon  taking  the  field 
was  about  ten  or  twelve  thousand  men ;  so  that  the  strength 
of  the  corps  d'armee  varied  from  about  25,000  to  70,000 
men.  Each  of  the  officers  commanding  these  corps 
d'armee  exercised  over  the  movements  of  his  own  corps  a 
command  independent  of  all  excepting  of  Napoleon  him- 
self. Not  only  they  declined  to  obey  each  other,  but 
would  not  attend  to  suggestions  or  advice  in  respect  to 
the  operations  of  their  several  corps  in  critical  moments ; 
and  from  the  great  caution  with  Avhich  it  appears  that 
Napoleon  proceeded  in  placing  one  of  these  authorities  in 
command  over  others,  and  the  paucity  of  the  instances  in 
which  he  adopted  such  a  measure,  it  may  almost  be 
believed  that  he  was  apprehensive  of  a  refusal  to  obey  the 
order. 

There  are  several  instances  throughout  this  service  in 
Russia  of  inconvenience  resulting  from  the  refusal  of  the 
commander  of  one  corps  d'armee  to  obey  the  commander 
of  the  other  upon  occasions  in  which  it  appears  from  the 
letters  that  Napoleon  had  ordered  the  senior  to  take  the 
command  of  the  whole;  and  as  the  juniors  refused  to 
obey,  it  is  probable  that  Napoleon  had  omitted  to  inform 
them  that  they  were  placed  under  the  command  of  their 
senior. 

This  organisation  of  corps  d'armee  gave  great  efficiency 
to  the  French  army  when  under  Napoleon,  and  was  very 
convenient  in  all  great  movements  and  operations.  But 
this  organisation  rendered  it  necessary  for  Napoleon  him- 
self to  be  present  upon  all  occasions  in  which  it  was  neces- 
sary to  employ  more  than  one  corps  d'armee  in  an  opera- 
tion. He  ought  to  have  been  present,  then,  in  this  affair 
with  the  Russian  rear-guard.  He  was  aware  of,  indeed 
present  at,  its  commencement,  and  the  action  took  place 


APPENDIX  381 

within  hearing  of  headquarters.  He  knew  that  two  corps, 
besides  the  cavalry  under  Murat,  were  employed  and 
that  that  of  Davout  was  stationed  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  field  of  battle ;  and  he  was  called  upon  for 
reinforcements,  and  he  sent  a  division  of  the  1st  Corps 
(Davout's)  to  reinforce  Ney.  If  he  had  gone  himself,  he 
would  have  seen  the  advantage  of  moving  Junot's  corps 
from  the  bank  of  the  river.  His  order  would  have  in- 
duced that  officer  to  move,  and  the  result  would  have 
been,  that  in  all  probability  the  Russian  army  would  have 
sustained  great  loss  in  its  equipments,  and  all  the  troops 
which  had  not  passed  the  point  of  junction  of  the  two 
roads  would  have  been  cut  off. 

The  Russian  army,  however,  having  effected  this  move- 
ment, was  again  collected  upon  the  great  road  to  Moscow, 
with  its  communication  with  that  city  and  with  the 
southern  provinces  of  the  Russian  empire  open,  and 
Napoleon's  plan  had  again  been  defeated. 

The  accounts  show  in  what  state  Smolensk  fell  into  his 
hands ;  and  that  this  place  did  not  afford  him  even  shelter 
for  the  wounded  of  his  army  in  the  fruitless  attempts  to 
take  the  place  by  storm  ;  and  in  the  action  which  followed, 
which  produced  no  result. 

From  this  place  Murat,  supported  by  Davout,  pursued 
the  march  of  the  Russian  army;  and  although  some 
circumstances  occurred  in  this  march  worthy  of  observa- 
tion, this  paper  is  already  so  long  that  I  will  observe  but 
little  upon  them. 

As  usual,  Napoleon  delayed  for  seven  days  at  Smolensk 
in  uncertainty,  as  stated  by  St'gur,  whether  he  should  pro- 
ceed or  not.  He  was  at  length  roused  by  the  report  of  the 
prospect  that  the  Russians  were  disposed  to  take  up  a 
position  to  fight  a  battle  at  Dorogobouje,  four  or  five 
marches  from  Smolensk.  In  this  expectation,  however, 
he  was  disappointed,  as  the  Russian  generals  did  not 
approve  of  that  position.     They  continued   their  retreat 


382      REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

then  to  Borodino,  where  Kutusof,  having  joined  and  taken 
the  command,  the  Russian  army  halted,  determined  to 
tight  a  general  action  Avith  their  enemy.  They  were  re- 
inforced by  all  the  troops  which  could  be  sent  to  them 
from  Moscow,  etc. ;  and  the  position  they  chose  was 
certainly  naturally  strong;  and  they  augmented  its 
strength  by  works.  But  notwithstanding  the  advantages 
with  which  they  fought  this  battle,  and  the  political 
advantages  which  resulted  from  it,  it  may  be  doubted 
whether,  upon  mihtary  principles,  it  ought  to  have  been 
fought. 

For  pohtical  reasons  it  was  necessary  to  light  a  great 
battle  before  the  enemy  should  be  allowed  to  obtain 
possession  of  Moscow  ;  and  it  would  not  have  been  safe  to 
fight  a  great  battle  against  such  an  enemy  at  a  position 
nearer  to  Moscow  than  Borodino  was.  But  a  great  risk 
was  incurred ;  and  if  the  result  of  the  day  had  been  more 
decisive,  the  campaign  would  have  been  lost.  Notwith- 
standing that  Napoleon  had  halted  seven  days  at  Smolensk, 
he  was  under  the  necessity  of  halting  two  days  at  Gjatz  to 
collect  and  prepare  his  army ;  and  he  arrived  in  presence 
of  his  enemy,  at  Borodino,  on  the  5th  September.  The 
army  was  thus,  from  the  19th  August,  seventeen  days 
marching  by  forced  marches  from  Smolensk,  the  distance 
being  280  worsts,  or  about  fourteen  marches. 

A  criticism  upon  a  battle  in  which  the  critic  was  not 
present  is  not  likely  to  meet  with  much  confidence  or 
attention,  particularly  when  made  upon  the  conduct  of  so 
consummate  a  captain  on  a  field  of  battle  as  Napoleon 
was.  But  it  certainly  appears  that  the  measure  stated 
by  Segur  to  have  been  recommended  by  Davout  would 
have  been  the  best  and  would  have  had  the  most  decisive 
results  ;  such  as  alone  could  render  any  action  desirable  to 
the  French  army,  or  be  really  detrimental  to  their  Russian 
enemies. 

Davout's  recommendation  was  to  force  and  turn  the 


APPENDIX  383 

enemy's  left  by  the  old  road  from  Smolensk  to  Mojaisk ; 
and  to  attack  the  Russian  army  by  its  rear  from  the 
heights  in  that  quarter  of  their  position. 

This  operation  ought  to  have  been  performed  by  a  much 
larger  body  of  men  than  was  proposed  by  Davout:  pro- 
bably the  whole  of  the  1st,  3rd,  5th,  and  Sth  Corps,  and 
half  the  cavalry;  keeping  half  the  cavalry,  the  Guards, 
and  the  4th  Corps  in  reserve  nearly  in  the  position  occu- 
pied by  the  Guards  during  the  battle.  The  attacking 
troops  might  have  been  formed  across  the  rear  of  the 
Russian  left  on  what  appears,  from  the  plans  and  the 
courses  of  the  rivulets  thereon  delineated,  to  be  the  highest 
ground  in  the  country.  Every  movement  they  would 
have  made  would  have  brought  them  nearer  their  re- 
serve ;  and  the  slightest  success  would  have  cut  off  the 
Russian  army  from  its  point  of  retreat,  Mojaisk.  It  is  not 
to  be  supposed  that  Napoleon  was  not  aware  of  this  mode 
of  operation;  and  it  is  most  probable  that  he  did  not 
adopt  it  because  he  must  have  trusted  some  officer  with 
the  execution  of  the  plan ;  and  he  could  not  trust  Murat, 
or  decide  between  the  conflicting  pretensions  of  Ney  and 
Davout.  It  is  quite  clear,  however,  that  having  omitted 
to  adopt  this  plan  his  success  in  the  battle  was  not  de- 
cisive ;  and  not  sufficiently  so,  even  in  his  own  opinion,  to 
enable  him  to  allow  his  reserve  of  Guards  to  attack. 
Indeed  some  little  circumstances  are  mentioned  which 
show  how  little  decisive  the  success  was,  owing  princi- 
pally to  the  omission  to  attack  the  Russian  left  in  sufficient 
strength. 

One  of  these  is  that  the  Russians  weakened  their  ex- 
treme left  opposed  to  Poniatowski,  in  order  to  strengthen 
that  part  of  their  line  opposed  to  Davout.  Yet  Ponia- 
towski could  make  no  progress ;  and  in  point  of  fact  made 
none  till  Davout  had  carried  the  heights  and  works 
opposed  to  the  advance  of  the  troops  under  his  own  com- 
mand ;  thus  fiicilitating  the  movements  of  Poniatowski 


384      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

instead  of  receiving  assistance  from  the  5th  Corps. 
Another  is  that  the  action  was  continued  along  the  line 
throughout  the  evening ;  and  that  the  Russians,  although 
they  had  lost  their  works  and  their  first  position,  did  not 
retire  till  the  night,  and  then  only  as  far  as  Mojaisk. 

Their  rear-guard  again  successfully  contended  with 
Murat's  advanced  guard  on  the  day  after  the  battle  for 
the  possession  of  Mojaisk ;  and  the  Russian  rear-guard 
did  not  quit  that  town  till  the  second  day  after  the  battle. 

Then  if  the  success  was  not  what  Napoleon  wished  or 
expected,  or  of  a  nature  to  relieve  him  from  the  difficulties 
of  his  position,  the  loss  of  the  French  army  was  immense ; 
and  there  was  but  little  chance  of  saving  any  of  the 
wounded ;  as  the  Convent  of  Kolotskoi  to  which  they  were 
sent  was  but  ill  provided  as  a  hospital. 

Upon  the  Russian  retreat  from  Mojaisk  one  of  those 
circumstances  occurred  respecting  which  astonishment  has 
already  been  expressed.  It  was  not  known  for  some  time 
by  what  road  they  had  retired.  Napoleon  suspected  that 
they  had  retired  upon  Kalougha,  leaving  the  road  upon 
Moscow  open  to  him  ;  and  having  already  halted  the  8th 
upon  the  field  of  battle,  he  halted  the  9th,  10th,  and  11th 
in  Mojaisk ;  he  did  not  move  from  thence  till  the  12th, 
when  he  had  received  intelligence  upon  which  he  could 
rely  that  the  Russians  had  retired  upon  Moscow.  To  this 
point  he  followed  them,  and  he  arrived  at  Moscow  with 
his  whole  army  on  the  14th  of  September,  in  106  days 
from  the  time  he  quitted  the  Vistula.  The  distance  from 
the  cantonments  of  the  French  army  on  the  Vistula  to 
Moscow  is  1200  wersts,  or  60  to  70  marches ;  and  they 
marched  over  that  distance  in  106  days  by  forced 
marches,  attended  by  such  fatigue  to  the  troops  and 
horses  of  the  army  as  to  have  arrived  at  Moscow  nearly 
in  a  state  of  disorganisation  from  starvation  and  distress 
of  every  description.  Napoleon  himself,  with  his  Guards, 
halted  18  days  at  Wilna,  18  at  Vitepsk,  7  at  Smolensk, 


APPENDIX  385 

and  6  days  afterwards,  making  the  whole  49  days.  These 
delays  will  account  for  the  time  lost  in  effecting  the 
march. 

The  Russian  army  retired  through  Moscow  on  the  14th 
September,  after  a  council  of  war,  in  which  it  was  deter- 
mined that  it  was  not  expedient  to  tight  another  battle  to 
save  that  city ;  and  they  directed  their  march  upon  Rya- 
konow.  They  crossed  the  Moskwa  about  four  marches 
from  Moscow  near  its  junction  with  the  Pakra,  and  con- 
tinued to  march  along  the  course  of  that  river  by  Polotsk, 
till  they  reached  the  old  road  from  Moscow  to  Kalougha, 
They  then  marched  along  that  road  till,  on  the  2nd  of 
October,  they  took  the  position  of  Taroutino  on  the 
Nara,  about  75  wersts  from  Moscow  and  75  from 
Kalougha. 

Napoleon,  after  delaying  some  time  at  the  gate  of 
Moscow  in  expectation  that  a  deputation  of  the  in- 
habitants would  be  sent  out  to  lay  the  keys  of  the  toAvn 
at  his  feet,  entered  the  town,  and  found  it  abandoned  by 
all  its  native  inhabitants,  none  of  those  having  remained 
excepting  of  the  lowest  rabble,  who  had  even  attempted 
to  defend  the  Kremlin  against  Murat's  advanced  guard. 

The  French  advanced  guard  appears  not  to  have  pursued 
the  Russian  army  from  Moscow.  It  appears  that  they 
did  not  molest  the  march  which  they  made  round  the 
town,  and  did  not  even  know  for  some  days,  till  the  2Gth 
September,  in  what  direction  the  Russians  had  gone. 

They  got  upon  the  right  road  at  last,  however,  and 
having  ajDproached  the  Russian  army  took  up  a  position 
near  Winkowo  in  front  of  the  Russians  on  the  Nara,  in 
which  they  remiiined  till  Kutusof  attacked  them. 

On  the  day  Napoleon  entered  Moscow  he  ought  to  have 
made  his  arrangements  to  withdraw  from  that  city. 
Moscow  was  not  a  military  position.  The  possession  of  it 
was  important  to  Napoleon  only  on  account  of  its  political 
importance  to  the  Russian  empire.     But  when  the  inhabi- 

2  B 


386       REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

tants  had  fled,  with  the  exception  of  the  German  and  French 
merchants  and  a  few  of  the  rabble,  the  possession  of  the 
town  lost  its  value,  and  after  the  fire  was  no  resource  to 
the  French  army,  even  in  the  way  of  provisions  or  military 
equipments.  The  burning  of  the  town  is  attributed  by  all 
these  authors  to  Rostopchin,  who  on  his  part  has  published 
a  pamphlet  in  which  he  denies  that  he  had  anything  to 
do  with  the  burning  of  the  town. 

If  these  histories^  are  read  with  attention  it  will  be 
seen  that  Rostopchin  was  anxious  that  another  battle 
should  be  fought  even  at  the  gates  of  the  city  to  save  it 
from  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  French,  and  that  a 
Council  of  War  was  assembled  on  the  13th  September  to 
decide  whether  this  battle  should  be  fought  or  not.  The 
decision  was  in  the  neirative,  and  the  total  evacuation 
took  place  next  morning,  the  Russian  army  having  moved 
through  Moscow  and  the  French  army  having  followed 
them. 

It  is  quite  clear  that  Rostopchin  can  have  taken  no 
measures  to  set  fire  to  the  town  previous  to  the  assembly 
of  this  Council  of  War.  He  could  not  have  foreseen  its 
decision,  and  if  the  decision  had  been  in  favour  of  a 
battle,  the  Russian  army  might  have  fought  with  the 
town  on  fire  in  their  rear,  and  the  reward  of  their  victory 
might  have  been  its  ashes ;  or  on  the  other  hand  the 
Russian  army  might  have  had  to  retire  through  a  town 
on  fire.  No  man  in  his  senses  could  have  incurred  such 
a  risk. 

Then  between  the  period  of  the  breaking  up  the 
council  of  war  and  the  retreat  of  the  Russian  rear-guard, 
was  there  time  to  adopt  the  measures  stated  to  have  been 
adopted  to  set  fire  to  this  town  ?  If  there  were  time, 
Rostopchin  could  not  have  executed  those  measures  him- 

1  In  addition  to  the  works  of  Segur,  book  viii.  c.  2,  and  Gourgaud, 

p.  260,  see  Hisioire  de  VExpddition  de  Russit ;  par  M ,  vol.  i.,  p.  365. 

Paris,  1823,  in  two  volumes. 


APPENDIX  387 

self.  There  must  have  been  some  agents,  some  witnesses 
of  the  measures  adopted,  and  Rostopchin  could  not  have 
contradicted  the  fact  in  the  face  of  the  world  without 
somebody  having  been  found  able  and  willing  to  state  the 
truth. 

The  magazines  were  not  burnt.  No  mischief  was  done 
to  the  powder  magazine  in  particular,  yet  in  a  town 
abandoned  by  its  inhabitants,  doomed  by  its  native 
governor  to  be  destroyed  by  tire,  surely  the  object  to 
which  he  would  have  tirst  turned  his  attention,  that  in 
which  he  would  most  willingly  have  tried  his  infernal 
machines,  would  have  been  magazines  of  arms,  cannon, 
etc.,  and  above  all  the  powder  magazine. 

It  is  by  far  more  probable  that  the  soldiers  of  the 
French  army,  finding  the  town  abandoned  by  its  inhabi- 
tants, broke  into  the  houses  to  search  for  plunder  on  the 
night  of  their  arrival.  Light  for  this  purpose  is  generally 
procured  by  flashing  off  a  firelock,  and  setting  fire  to  the 
oil  rag  with  which  the  musket  is  commonly  kept  clean. 
This  oil  rag  is  kept  in  the  hand  as  long  as  the  latter  is 
not  burnt,  the  rag  is  then  thrown  upon  the  ground  or 
anywhere,  and  something  is  found  and  set  fire  to,  to 
answer  the  same  purpose.  It  is  thus  that  a  house 
abandoned  by  its  inhabitants,  if  plundered  by  troops, 
is  generally  burnt. 

It  will  be  observed  accordingly,  in  the  account,  that  but 
few  houses  were  on  fire  the  first  night ;  a  very  large 
number  the  second  night,  and  the  whole  town  the  third 
night. 

It  is  quite  consistent  with  this  mode  of  setting  fire 
to  the  town  that  some  of  the  inhabitants  were  found 
engaged  in  burning  houses.  Such  inhabitants  as  re- 
mained in  Moscow  are  not  generally  unwilling  to  share 
in  the  benefits  to  be  derived  from  the  sack  of  such  a  town 
as  Moscow ;  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  they  increased 
the  confusion  and  pillage. 


388       REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

The  destruction  of  Moscow  by  fire  apparently  made  no 
alteration  in  Napoleon's  intention  to  remain  in  that  city. 
He  had  made  endeavours  to  open  a  negotiation  with  the 
Emperor  of  Russia  for  peace,  which  he  flattered  himself 
would  be  successful;  and  that  this  event  would  relieve 
him  from  the  difficulties  and  dangers  of  his  position, 
which  it  is  impossible  to  believe  that  he  did  not  see  as 
well  as  others.  He  had  written  a  letter  to  the  Emperor 
of  Russia  which  Kutusof  had  consented  to  forward,  and  it 
may  be  supposed  that  the  expectation  of  a  favourable 
answer  had  tended  to  divert  Napoleon's  attention  from  his 
real  situation. 

It  is  certain  that,  excepting  to  give  orders  to  evacuate 
the  hospital  at  the  Convent  of  Kolotskoi,  he  took  no  step 
to  prepare  for  his  retreat  or  for  his  movement  at  all  from 
Moscow. 

When  the  future  prospects  of  the  army  were  discussed 
it  appears  that  he  never  contemplated  a  retrograde  move- 
ment to  a  greater  extent  than  Smolensk.  At  times  he 
looked  to  pass  the  winter  in  the  southern  provinces  of  the 
Russian  empire  about  Kalougha,  and  it  appears  that  he 
could  not  bring  his  mind  so  far  to  consider  the  truth  as 
to  calculate  the  relative  strength  of  the  armies  opposed  to 
each  other  upon  his  flanks,  and  to  ascertain  whether  it 
was  such  as  to  enable  him  even  to  retreat  from  Russia,  or 
remain  within  reach  of  his  enemy's  armies,  much  more  to 
maintain  a  position  within  that  country. 

The  habit  of  Napoleon  had  been  to  astonish  and  deceive 
mankind,  and  he  had  come  at  last  to  deceive  himself. 
These  works  contain  innumerable  instances  of  this  habit 
of  his  mind,  but  those  which  I  am  now  about  to  discuss 
are  the  most  remarkable  and  the  most  fatal  to  himself 
and  his  fortunes,  and  the  most  fortunate  for  the  world  that 
ever  occurred. 

It  has  been  already  stated  that,  on  the  19th  of  August, 
Wittgenstein  had  made  an  unsuccessful  attack  upon  the 


APPENDIX  389 

united  corps  of  Ouclinot  and  St.  Cyr,  the  2nd  and  6th 
Corps,  at  Polotsk  on  the  Dwina.  Wittgenstein  had  been 
repulsed,  and  retired  to  his  position  at  Sebej  to  cover  the 
road  to  St.  Petersburg,  and  no  farther  operation  was  under- 
taken by  either  party  on  this  flank  of  the  army  from  that 
time.  Macdonald,  with  the  10th  Corps,  had  collected  the 
ordnance  and  stores  necessary  for  the  siege  of  Riga  at 
Runthal  and  Borsmunde,  but  no  steps  had  been  taken  in 
order  to  carry  on  this  operation. 

The  strength  of  these  three  corps  is  stated  in  page  370 
to  have  been  95,000  men  upon  their  entry  into  Russia. 
Before  the  battle  of  Polotsk,  of  the  19th  August,  the  2nd 
and  6th  were  already  reduced — the  2nd  Corps  to  20,000 
men,  including  the  corps  of  cuirassiers  under  Doumerc, 
from  37,000  men  ;  the  6th  Corps,  to  15,000  men  from  25,000 
men — the  former  having  had  only  the  affair  at  Khastitza, 
and  the  latter  having  only  made  its  marches  to  Polotsk. 
The  10th  Corps  having  had  no  severe  marching,  and  hav- 
ing been  but  little  engaged  with  the  Russians,  was  not 
weakened  to  the  same  degree.  But  as  long  as  Napoleon 
persisted  in  the  design  of  carrying  on  the  siege  of  Riga,  the 
10th  Corps  under  Macdonald  could  not  be  considered 
available  to  the  purpose  of  protecting  the  left  flank  of  the 
army  at  Moscow. 

The  only  troops  available  for  this  service  were  the  2nd 
and  the  6th  Corps,  which,  supposing  them  to  be  as  strong 
in  October  as  previous  to  the  battle  of  Polotsk,  consisted 
of  only  35,000  men.  Indeed  the  Russian  accounts  say 
they  had  only  30,000  men. 

Wittgenstein,  who  on  the  side  of  the  Russians  com- 
manded against  Oudinot  and  St.  Cyr,  had  been  in  the 
meantime  very  considerably  reinforced  from  the  interior 
of  Russia  as  well  as  from  St.  Petersburg.  These  re- 
inforcements joined  him  in  the  middle  of  October. 

But  he  was  besides  joined  by  the  Russian  corps  under 
General  Steigentheil,  which  had  been  stationed  in  Finland 


390      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

with  a  view  to  the  defence  of  that  province,  and  detained 
there  afterwards  in  order  to  carry  into  execution  the  em- 
peror's engagements  with  the  Crown  Prince  regarding 
Norway.  The  reinforcements  augmented  his  corps  to 
40,000  men,and  the  corps  of  Stoigentheil,after  leaving  some 
men  in  the  garrison  of  Riga,  amounted  to  11,000,  so  that 
Wittgenstein  was  enabled  to  commence  his  operations 
against  St.  Cyr  with  a  considerable  superiority  of  force. 

Accordingly  he  attacked  the  French  at  Polotsk  on 
the  right  of  the  Dwina,  on  the  18th  and  19th  October,  while 
Steigentheil  moved  by  the  left  of  that  river.  The  French 
were  defeated  and  obliged  to  retire  toAvards  the  Orcha. 
St.  Cyr  was  wounded  and  quitted  the  army,  the  command 
of  which  devolved  upon  the  Bavarian  General  Wrede. 
There  was,  however,  a  dispute  respecting  the  command 
which  was  exercised  by  the  French  general,  Le  Grand,  and 
de  Wrede  consequently  took  his  own  line  of  retreat  towards 
Glubokoe  with  the  Bavarian  troops. 

When  Napoleon  determined  to  move  on  upon  Moscow 
from  Dorogobouje  on  the  26th  August,  he  had  ordered 
forward  to  Smolensk  the  Due  de  Bellune  with  the  9th 
Corps,  consisting  of  33,500.  The  instructions  to  this  corps 
state  that  it  was  to  be  the  reserve  of  the  army  at  Moscow, 
and  the  connecting  link  of  the  wings  of  the  army  then 
upon  the  Styr  and  upon  the  Dwina. 

But  as  soon  as  St.  Cyr  was  defeated  by  Wittgenstein 
there  was  an  end  of  this  reserve,  Victor  was  obliged  to 
move  in  all  haste  from  Smolensk  in  order  to  save  the  2nd 
and  6th  Corps,  and  prevent  Wittgenstein  from  performing 
the  part  allotted  to  him  in  co-operation  with  Admiral 
Tchitchakof.  He,  therefore,  moved  from  Smolensk,  and 
joined  on  the  31st  October  to  the  2nd  and  6th  Corps,  of 
which  Oudinot  had  by  this  time  taken  the  command. 

The  losses  sustained  in  the  affair  at  Polotsk  on  the  19th, 
the  separation  of  the  Bavarians  and  direction  given  to 
their  march,  had  so  far  weakened  the  2nd  and  6th  Corps 


APPENDIX  391 

that,  even  when  joined  by  Victor,  be  did  not  consider  him- 
self strong  enough  to  do  more  than  maintain  a  defensive 
against  Wittgenstein. 

In  consequence  of  being  repeatedly  urged  by  Napoleon 
to  make  the  attack,  he  did  make  it  on  the  14th  November 
at  Smoliantzy  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Orcha,  but 
failed,  not  only  because  he  was  not  sufficiently  strong,  but 
because  the  two  marshals,  Victor  and  Oudinot,  could  not 
agree  in  opinion  on  the  plan  of  attack. 

Then  on  the  right  flank  of  the  army  it  appears  that  the 
Russian  forces  on  the  Styr  consisted  on  the  IGth  of 
September  of  00,000  men.  They  were  here  reorganised 
and  received  some  reinforcements.  General  Tormasof 
was  called  to  fill  the  place  in  the  Grand  Russian  Army  of 
Bagration,  killed  in  the  battle  of  Borodino.  The  whole 
force  was  commanded  by  Admiral  Tchitchakof.  General 
Sacken  was  to  command  in  Volhynia  when  the  admiral 
should  move  towards  the  Berezina. 

As  soon  as  the  Russian  corps  joined  upon  the  Styr,  the 
Austrian  corps  and  the  7th  Corps  of  the  French  army 
retired  before  them  till  they  crossed  the  Bug. 

Tchitchakof,  after  some  delay,  occasioned  principally  by 
the  movements  of  the  combined  Austrian  and  French 
armies  before  the  Bug,  separated  from  Sacken  with  oS,000 
men,  leaving  Sacken  with  about  28,000.  Tchitchakof 
pursued  his  march  towards  the  Berezina,  and  General 
Lambert,  commanding  his  advanced  guard,  took  po.ssession 
of  Minsk  on  the  IGth  November,  having  driven  out  the 
French  garrison.  Thus  was  lost  the  grand  magazine  of 
the  French  army  on  its  only  line  of  retreat.  He  followed 
up  this  success  by  marching  upon  Borisof,  of  which  place 
and  its  bridge  upon  the  Berezina  he  likewise  obtained 
possession  on  the  21st  November.  Lamliert  was  wounded 
in  this  affair,  and  Count  Pahlon,  who  succeeded  to  the 
command  of  the  advanced  guard,  pushed  forward  till  he 
met  Oudinot  on  the  2.3rd  of  November  at  Losnitzka,  who 


392       REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

having  met  the  troops  fl3ing  from  Borisof  joined  them  to 
the  2nd  Corps,  and  attacked  Pahlen  and  obliged  him  to 
retire  across  the  Berezina  at  Borisof,  of  which  place, 
however,  the  Russians  destroyed  the  bridge. 

The  admiral  had  passed  the  Berezina  with  his  whole 
army,  and  had  that  river  at  his  back  with  only  one  bridge 
to  retire  by.  He  consequently  lost  in  Borisof  all  the 
baggage  of  his  army.  Admiral  Tchitchakof  then  posted 
his  army  upon  the  Berezina  from  Bobruisk  to  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Zembin. 

Schwarzenberg,  whose  Austrian  force  was  by  that  time 
reduced  to  25,000  men,  followed  the  movement  of  the 
admiral,  leaving  Regnier  with  the  7th  Corps  of  the  French 
army  opposed  to  Sacken.  But  Regnier  was  soon  found 
too  weak  to  hold  his  ground ;  and  Schwarzenberg  was 
obliged  to  return  in  order  to  prevent  the  Russians  from 
reaching  Warsaw. 

Thus  then  both  Napoleon's  flanks  were  turned  and 
overpowered,  and  the  greatest  of  all  misfortunes  threatened 
the  retreating  French  army,  that  of  large  and  superior 
bodies  of  troops  posted  on  its  line  of  retreat  to  impede 
and  prevent  its  march,  while  others  were  pursuing  it.  I 
will  presently  discuss  the  measures  taken  to  get  the 
better  of  these  difficulties,  and  the  nature,  amount,  and 
causes  of  their  success.  It  is  now  necessary  to  discuss  a 
little  the  causes  of  the  misfortune. 

Napoleon  would  never  believe,  or  act  as  if  he  believed, 
either  that  he  was  himself,  with  the  body  of  troops  under 
his  immediate  command,  under  the  necessity  of  retreating 
from  his  position  of  Moscow,  that  any  preparatory  steps 
were  necessary  to  enable  him  to  perform  that  operation,  or 
that  the  French  corps  destined  to  protect  his  flanks  were 
not  stronger  than  the  Russian  corps  opposed  to  them. 

There  is  a  curious  instance  in  these  works  of  the  dis- 
position of  his  mind  to  despise  and  depreciate  his  enemy, 
and  to  exaggerate  the  means  at  his  own  disposal. 


APPENDIX  393 

General  Hoertel  throughout  the  campaign  commanded 
a  corps  of  observation  at  Mozyr,  and  Latour  Maubourg, 
who  was  employed  with  his  cavalry  to  blockade  Bobruisk 
on  the  Berezina,  and  afterwards  Dombrowsky,  who  relieved 
him,  were  repeatedly  urged  to  destroy  this  corps  of  General 
Hoertel.  Both  felt  they  were  unequal  to  the  task.  But 
at  last  General  Hoertel  fell  upon  Dombrowsky  and  drove 
him  from  the  blockade  of  Bobruisk ;  and  it  was  not  till 
this  misfortune  occurred  that  Napoleon  was  convinced 
that  it  was  not  in  the  power  of  DombroAvsky  to  destroy 
the  corps  of  General  Hoertel.  If  Napoleon  could  have 
taken  a  correct  view  of  his  position  he  would  have  seen, 
as  will  appear  soon,  that  it  was  not  in  his  power,  retreat- 
ing from  Moscow  on  19th  October,  to  maintain  himself 
within  the  Russian  frontier  during  the  winter ;  and  that 
even  if  ho  did  he  could  not  during  the  winter  carry  on 
the  operations  of  the  siege  of  Kiga.  Ho  ought  then,  as 
early  as  September,  to  have  sent  away  his  battering  train 
and  stores.  This  measure  would  have  rendered  Macdonald's 
corps  disposable  for  operations  in  the  field,  and  would  have 
given  the  French  a  numerical  superiority  over  Wittgenstein 
upon  the  Dwina;  even  after  the  junction  with  the  latter 
of  the  corps  of  Steigentheil. 

Then  Napoleon  must  have  known  of  the  direction  of 
the  march  of  Tchitchakof  from  the  Danube,  of  his  arrival 
upon  the  Stener  and  junction  with  Tormasof,  of  his 
consequent  numerical  superiority  to  ScliAvarzenberg ;  and 
of  the  impossibility  that  the  latter  should  be  able  to 
maintain  his  ground.  Napoleon  should  have  reinforced 
his  right  by  moving  thither  the  9th  Corps  under  Victor. 
He  had  nothing  to  apprehend  in  his  rear  excepting  by 
movements  from  his  flanks,  in  consequence  of  the 
superiority  of  his  enemy  on  both  flanks.  But  there  were 
still  Durutte  and  Loison's  division  and  other  troops  at 
Wilna  which  might  have  reinforced  the  centre  of  the 
army,  and  have  occupied  points  in  its  rear  if  such  rein- 


394       REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

forcement  had  been  necessary  to  the  centre  after  the  wings 
had  been  secured. 

These  arrangements,  however,  particularly  that  of  send- 
ing back  the  battering  train  and  its  equipments,  which  to 
be  of  any  use  must  have  been  made  in  September,  would 
have  betrayed  to  the  world  the  flict  that  Russia  was  not 
to  be  conquered  by  coup-de-main  or  in  one  campaign. 
That  on  the  contrary  the  natural  difficulties  of  the 
enterprise  and  the  resistance  had  been  found  so  much 
more  formidable  and  effective  than  had  been  expected, 
that  the  means  of  conquest,  however  in  magnitude  and 
efficiency  surpassing  any  ever  before  heard  of,  were  not 
equal  to  the  task  of  subduing  the  country ;  and  that  the 
concentration  of  all  was  necessar}^  to  enable  Napoleon  to 
withdraw  his  main  body,  his  guards,  and  his  own  person 
from  the  position  into  which  he  had  adventured.  It  was 
preferred  to  incur  all  risks,  and  to  trust  to  all  chances 
rather  than  to  let  out  this  secret.  Napoleon  endeavoured 
to  convince  everybody  around  him,  even  to  the  last 
moment  previous  to  his  departure  from  Moscow,  that  he 
had  it  in  his  power  to  remain  for  the  winter  in  that  city 
or  where  else  he  pleased  in  Russia.  But  these  relations 
make  it  clear  that  if  he  deceived  himself,  if  he  deceived 
others  at  a  distance  from  the  seat  of  the  war,  at  least  the 
principal  officers  of  the  army  were  not  deceived,  all  of 
whom  were  aware  of  the  critical  nature  of  the  position  in 
which  they  were  placed. 

On  the  other  hand  the  Emperor  of  Russia  appears  to 
have  taken  every  measure  which  could  tend  to  the  total 
defeat  and  destruction  of  his  enemy.  He  took  no  notice 
of  the  insinuations  made  to  him  of  Napoleon's  love  for 
him  personally,  and  of  his  sincere  desire  for  peace,  except- 
ing to  censure  the  officers  who  had  conveyed  them.  He 
reinforced  his  armies  most  judiciously,  and  particularly 
those  destined  to  act  upon  the  flanks  of  the  enemy ;  and 
his  orders  for  the  recommencement  of  their  operations 


APPENDIX  395 

after  the  junction  of  the  reinforcements  at  the  same  period 
of  the  month  of  October  are  most  judicious.  It  appears 
that  after  Murat  had  discovered  the  direction  of  tlie 
retreat  of  Kutusof  from  Moscow,  on  the  26th  of  September, 
he  followed  his  movement,  and  after  some  skirmishing  the 
French  advanced  posts  finally  took  up  their  position 
opposite  the  Russian  army  on  the  27th  September. 

Poniatowski,  with  the  5th  Corps,  was  at  Wereia,  and  it 
was  necessary  to  detach  many  other  troops  from  Moscow 
to  support  the  advanced  guard  or  to  protect  the  commu- 
nication with  Smolensk,  as  notwithstanding  that  in  the 
course  of  the  communications  between  the  two  armies 
there  was  a  sort  of  understanding  between  Murat  and 
Kutusof  that  hostilities  should  be  suspended,  which 
suspension  extended  only  in  front  of  the  two  bodies 
opposite  to  each  other,  operations  were  carried  on  much 
to  the  disadvantage  of  the  French  army  in  their  rear,  and 
even  upon  the  troops  of  the  French  advanced  guard  on 
their  foraging  parties,  and  it  was  agreed  between  the 
parties  that  even  this  suspension  of  hostilities  might  be 
put  an  end  to  by  either  party  giving  to  the  other  six  hours' 
notice. 

Nothing  could  be  more  disadvantageous  to  the  French 
army,  and  no  proof  more  strong  could  be  given  of  their 
weakness  than  the  consent  of  Napoleon  to  such  an 
arrangement;  and  the  Russians  took  every  advantage 
of  it. 

At  length,  however,  even  this  state  of  repose,  and 
Napoleon's  dreams  of  peace,  of  passing  the  winter  at 
Moscow,  etc.,  were  put  an  end  to,  and  Kutusof  attacked 
Murat  in  his  position  in  front  of  the  Russian  army  on  the 
ISth  October.  He  defeated  Murat;  and  the  advantage 
he  gained  over  him  was  very  considerable.  But  certainly 
not  what  the  Russian  tjencral  had  a  right  to  calculate 
upon.  As  soon  as  Napoleon  heard  of  this  attack,  on  the 
18th  October,  he  put  his  troops  in  motion,  and  his  army 


396       REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

marched  on  the  following  morning  by  the  old  route  of 
Kalougha. 

He  left  behind  him  Mortier  with  la  Jeune  Garde  and 
other  troops,  with  orders  to  maintain  himself  in  the 
Kremlin.  He  sent  orders  to  Mortier  on  the  20th  to  remain 
till  23rd  at  night,  then  to  blow  up  that  palace,  etc.,  etc., 
and  to  retire  upon  Wereia.  It  is  impossible  to  advert  to 
this  fact  without  expressing  the  horror  which  it  inspires. 
If  Napoleon  had  destroyed  a  magazine  or  a  work  of  utility 
to  the  Russian  army  or  nation,  or  even  a  monument  of 
art,  or  one  to  recall  the  memory  of  some  glorious  action 
by  the  Russian  army  or  nation,  the  reader  would  not 
have  been  shocked  as  by  the  perusal  of  formal  instructions 
to  destroy  the  ancient  palace  of  the  Czars,  solely  to  mark 
the  impotent  desire  of  revenge  because  the  Emperor  of 
Russia,  having  declined  to  submit  to  insult,  had  after- 
wards refused  to  listen  to  insidious  offers  of  peace. 

Then  we  shall  read  of  the  complaints  of  the  French 
nation  of  the  occupation  of  their  capital,  and  of  the  contri- 
butions which  they  were  obliged  to  pay  ! 

The  first  marches  of  Napoleon  from  Moscow  were 
evidently  directed  to  relieve  Murat  from  the  difficulties 
of  his  position.  After  the  affair  of  the  18th  he  had  retired 
across  the  Moskwa;  and  the  advanced  guard  of  the  army, 
under  the  Viceroy,  having  crossed  the  Pakra  on  the  20th, 
they  were  in  immediate  communication  with  Murat.  Ney 
joined  him  ;  and  the  remainder  of  the  army  moved  by  a 
cross  road  from  the  old  to  the  new  road  to  Kalougha; 
which  road  they  entered  at  Fominskoe. 

Napoleon's  headquarters  were  at  Fominskoe  on  the 
22nd  October. 

On  the  23rd  the  Viceroy  with  the  advanced  guard  was 
beyond  Borowsk.  Delzons'  division  of  the  4th  Corps  was 
forward  ;  from  which  two  battalions  were  detached  to  take 
possession  of  Malo-Jaroslavetz.  Napoleon  had  his  head- 
quarters at  Borowsk  on  that  day. 


APPENDIX  397 

It  appears  that  Kutnsof,  who  after  the  aflFair  of  the  l<Sth 
had  left  Murat  beyond  the  Moskwa,  returned  to  his  camp 
at  Torontino  ;  and  in  fact  had  no  intelligence  of  the  French 
army  till  the  23rd,  when  he  learnt  from  Miloradowitch, 
who  commanded  his  advanced  guard,  that  the  French  had 
evacuated  Moscow ;  and  that  after  making  two  marches 
on  the  old  they  had  crossed  the  country  to  the  new  road 
to  Kalougha.  He  immediately  detached  Doctorof  with  his 
corps,  and  directed  him  first  upon  Borowsk ;  but  Hmling 
that  the  French  were  there  in  force  he  directed  him  upon 
Malo-Jaroslavetz,  and  followed  with  the  whole  army  in  two 
columns  in  the  evening. 

Doctorof  arrived  at  Malo-Jaroslavetz  early  on  the  2-ith, 
and  immediately  attacked  the  two  French  battalions  in 
the  town,  and  drove  them  out.  They  were  supported  first 
by  the  whole  of  Delzons'  division,  and  afterwards  by  the 
4th  Corps,  and  then  by  the  1st  Corps  ;  while  Doctorof  was 
supported  b}^  the  Russian  army  as  it  arrived.  A  furious 
combat  ensued,  which  ended  by  the  toAvn  remaining  in 
possession  of  the  French ;  but  during  its  continuance 
Kutusof  had  taken  up  a  position  across  the  new  road  to 
Kalougha  from  Moscow,  about  two  wersts  from  Alalo- 
Jaroslavetz  behind  the  little  stream  Louja;  in  which  in 
the  reduced  state  of  the  French  army,  and  particularly 
of  the  cavalry,  it  was  not  thought  expedient  to  attack 
him. 

Napoleon  had  moved  his  headquarters  on  the  24th  to 
Gorodnia.  The  25tli  was  passed  in  an  examination  of  the 
ground  on  which  the  battle  of  the  previous  day  had  been 
fought ;  the  whole  army  made  a  forward  movement  to- 
wards Malo-Jaroslavetz  on  the  2Gth ;  but  as  the  retreat 
was  then  determined  upon,  and  that  it  should  be  made  by 
Mojaisk  and  Wiasma,  they  returned  the  same  day  and 
Napoleon  had  his  headquarters  that  night  at  Borowsk. 
He  moved  on  the  following  day,  the  27th,  to  Vereia,  and 
arrived  at  Mojaisk  on  the  2.Sth,  having  thus  passed  ten 


898       REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

days  from  the  day  of  his  retreat  from  Moscow,  and  being 
only  four  days'  march  from  that  city.  Davout  had  the 
rear-guard,  and  the  Viceroy  was  to  support  him. 

Before  I  proceed  farther  it  may  be  as  well  to  consider 
the  objects  of  these  movements  since  the  departure  from 
Moscow. 

The  armies  opposed  to  each  other  were  of  the  strength 
as  follows : — 

French  infantry,  89,640,  including  4000  dismounted 
cavalry;  15,314  cavalry,  12,000  artillery,  etc.,  with  569 
pieces  of  cannon. 

Junot,  with  the  8th  Corps,  was  at  Mojaisk ;  and  Poniatow- 
ski  with  the  5th  at  Medyn  ;  and  M  or  tier  had  been  left  in 
Moscow  with  6000  or  8000  men.  These  detachments  would 
make  a  deduction  from  those  numbers  of  about  15,000  or 
16,000  men. 

Prince  Kutusof  had  on  the  18th  October  78,440  men 
and  620  pieces  of  cannon,  without  including  the  Cossacks. 

Napoleon,  therefore,  had  still  a  superiority  of  force  even 
after  his  detachments  are  deducted  from  his  numbers. 

It  is  evident  that  his  first  intention  was  solely  to 
relieve  Murat;  and  he  probably  hoped  that  his  adver- 
sary would  give  him  an  opportunity  of  fighting  a  battle 
with  advantage.  The  mode  in  which  it  appears  that  his 
intentions  were  at  first  confined  to  these  objects  is  that  he 
did  not  send  Mortier  his  instructions  to  march  on  the 
23rd  at  night  upon  Vereia  till  the  20th ;  the  da}^  on 
which  his  advanced  guard  crossed  the  Pakra,  and  was 
within  reach  of  Murat.  It  is  likewise  probable  that  if  he 
had  left  Moscow,  having  in  view  eventually  even  the  march 
upon  Kalougha,  he  would  have  sent  his  baggage  and 
encumbrances  by  the  new  road  on  that  place,  which  was 
the  most  direct;  and  would  have  marched  with  a  light 
army  only  for  the  relief  of  Murat,  and  for  the  eventual 
purpose  of  attacking  Kutusof.  Napoleon  started  then  from 
Moscow  with  one  principal  object   in  view  and   another 


APPENDIX  399 

eventual,  and  he  took  up  a  third  two  days  afterwards ;  that 
is  to  say,  to  march  upon  Kalougha  upon  his  enemy's  left 
flank  to  anticipate  his  enemy  in  that  town,  avail  himself  of 
his  enemy's  magazines,  etc.,  and  make  his  retreat  thence 
upon  Smolensk.  When  he  formed  this  design  it  must  be 
observed  that  although  two  marches  nearer  his  enemy 
than  when  at  Moscow,  he  was  at  nearly  as  great  a  distance 
from  Kalougha  as  when  at  Moscow.  Indeed  as  he  was 
obliged  to  march  from  the  old  to  the  new  road  to  Kalougha 
across  the  country,  the  time  necessary  to  march  over  the 
ground  Avould  be  as  long  as  if  he  had  started  from  Moscow, 
and  moreover  the  probability  that  the  design  would  be 
discovered  by  the  enemy  was  much  greater  than  if  he  had 
marched  at  once  upon  Kalougha  from  Moscow  by  the  new 
road  to  that  town.  When  he  determined  upon  this  move- 
ment upon  Kalougha  he  was  seven  or  eight  marches  from 
that  city ;  and  Kutusof,  at  Taroutino,  Avas  only  three  or 
four  marches. 

It  is  certainly  a  matter  of  surprise  that  Kutusof  should 
not  have  heard  till  the  28rd  of  the  direction  of  Napoleon's 
march  made  on  the  20th  ;  but  it  will  have  been  seen  that 
Kutusof  was  still  in  time,  and  was  enabled  to  take  a 
position  in  front  of  his  adversary  between  him  and  the 
object  to  which  he  was  directing  his  march.  Even  if 
Kutusof  had  been  a  day  later,  he  would  have  had  it  in  his 
power  to  anticipate  his  adversary  and  to  reach  Kalougha 
Iteforc  him  ;  but  his  march  on  the  evening  of  the  23rd  was 
important  inasmuch  as  it  placed  him  in  such  a  position  in 
relation  to  the  roads  from  Kalougha  to  Smolensk  as  that 
Napoleon  could  use  none  of  them  ;  and  was  obliged  from 
Borow.sk  to  retire  by  Mojaisk,  leaving  to  his  adversary  the 
shortest  road  to  Smolensk,  the  best  and  most  plentifully 
supplied  with  provisions. 

It  will  have  been  seen  that  Napoleon,  even  after  deduct- 
ing his  detachments,  had  still  a  numerical  superioriry  of 
force  to  Kutusof.     It  is  astonishing  that  he  did  not  attack 


400      REMINISCENCES   OF   DUKE   OF   WELLINGTON 

his  adversary  previous  to  the  commencement  of  his 
retreat;  and  endeavour  to  remove  him  to  a  greater 
distance;  and  particularly  from  the  roads  leading  from 
Kalougha  upon  Smolensk. 

The  consequence  of  this  omission  will  appear  here- 
after ;  as  will  likewise  that  of  the  time  lost  (six  days)  in 
moving  from  Moscow  by  Malo-Jaroslavetz  upon  Mojaisk. 
The  leaving  Kutusof  in  possession  of  these  southern  com- 
munications with  Smolensk  must  likewise  be  viewed,  in 
connection  with  the  establishment  of  the  great  magazine 
of  the  army  at  Minsk.  If  Napoleon  could  have  directed 
his  retreat  upon  Vitepsk,  the  possession  of  those  southern 
communications  by  Kutusof  was  not  of  such  importance. 
But  as  he  Avas  obliged  to  go  to  Smolensk  and  thence  along 
the  Dnieper  and  across  the  Berezina  upon  Minsk,  the 
possession  of  those  communications  would  have  been  fatal 
to  him  and  his  army  if  the  Russians  had  been  more 
active. 

Then  in  respect  to  the  mode  in  which  the  retreat  was 
made  it  appears  equally  faulty  with  all  the  previous 
measures  and  manceuvres. 

Napoleon  should  have  rendered  his  army  as  light  as 
possible,  should  have  destroyed  all  superfluous  baggage, 
and  have  reduced  as  much  as  possible  the  number  of 
wheel  carriages;  as  however  convenient  to  individuals 
they  are  the  most  inconvenient  and  burthensome  to  the 
army,  create  great  delays,  expose  the  rear-guards  in 
whose  charge  they  fall,  and  aggravate  all  the  difficulties 
which  occur  on  the  march. 

He  should  then  have  marched  by  two  or  three  separate 
roads,  one  column  covered  by  its  rear-guard  being  on  each 
road ;  or  'he  might  have  marched  back  as  he  marched 
forward,  in  three  columns,  on  or  immediately  close  to  the 
same  road,  which  might  have  been  given  up  to  the  wheel 
carriages  of  the  army. 

By  any  of  these  modes  he  might  have  saved  his  army  at 


APPENDIX  401 

least  from  any  military  disaster;  and  time,  of  the  greatest 
Importance  to  him,  would  have  been  saved. 

Instead  of  adopting  any  of  these  modes  of  retreat  he 
marched  in  one  long  column  Avhich  extended  the  distance 
of  two  or  more  marches. 

In  this  form  the  army  continued  its  retreat  to  Smolensk, 
where  Napoleon  with  the  Guard  arrived  on  the  9th 
November.  Junot  with  the  8th  Corps  had  arrived  before 
him.  The  rear-guard  under  Ney ;  the  3rd  Corps  having 
relieved  the  1st  at  Viasma  on  the  3rd  November,  where 
Miloradowitch  attacked  the  1st,  3rd,  and  4tli  Corps,  and 
they  sustained  great  loss. 

On  the  7th  of  November  the  frost  had  commenced ; 
and  it  is  curious  to  observe  the  use  that  is  made  of  this 
event  in  all  these  accounts,  particularly  by  Gourgaud,  who 
is  Napoleon's  apologist.  First,  the  frost  was  premature, 
and  earlier  in  that  season  than  it  had  ever  been  known  in 
others.  This  is  not  the  fact ;  but  what  is  the  fact  is  that 
an  early  frost  was  foreseen ;  and  the  necessity  of  guarding 
against  this  state  of  the  season  urged  in  the  23rd  and 
24th  bulletins  in  the  midst  of  all  the  boasting  which  those 
documents  contain.  Any  other  people  in  the  world,  after 
reading  these  words  written  on  the  9th,  14th  and  20th 
October,  would  have  been  astonished  that  the  famous 
29th  bulletin  of  the  3rd  December  should  have  attributed 
the  misfortunes  of  this  army  to  the  frost. 

But  if  the  frost  destroyed  the  army,  and  particularly 
the  horses  of  the  army,  how  did  it  happen  that  those 
corps  of  the  army  under  Napoleon's  own  direction  lost 

^  men  and  ^  horses  between  the  1st  of  June  and 
the  18th  of  October,  of  which  number  not  one-sixth  were 
lost  in  military  actions  in  the  field. 

Then  we  are  told  the  loss  was  occasioned  because  the 
French  horses  were  not  rough  shod.  Why  were  they  not 
rough  shod  ?     Is  there  never  any  frost  in  Russia  ?      But 

'  lilank  in  manuscript. 

2c 


402      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

the  excuse  is  not  founded  in  fact.  Those  who  have 
followed  a  French  army  well  know  that  their  horses  are 
always  rough  shod.  It  is  the  common  mode  of  shoeing 
horses  in  France;  and  in  this  respect  a  French  army 
ought  and  would  have  suffered  less  inconvenience  than 
any  other  army  that  ever  was  assembled. 

The  date  of  the  commencement  of  the  frost  is  well 
known ;  and  the  reader  has  only  to  refer  to  the  following 
passages  to  see  that  the  confusion  and  indiscipline  in  the 
army  commenced  before  it  had  arrived  at  Mojaisk,  nine 
days  before  the  frost  appeared ;  and  in  point  of  fact 
Miloradowitch  took  advantage  of  that  confusion  at 
Viasma  in  his  attack  upon  the  1st,  3rd,  and  4th  Corps. 

It  will  be  seen  from  these  observations  that  Napoleon 
was  obliged  to  abandon  all  his  projects  one  after  the  other, 
and  to  choose  for  his  retreat  the  road  least  advantageous 
in  his  o^vn  opinion  for  his  army,  the  most  circuitous,  not 
only  positively  but  relatively,  Avith  that  which  he  left 
in  the  power  of  his  adversary ;  and  this  without  attempt- 
ing to  gain  a  military  advantage  over  his  enemy,  notwith- 
standing his  own  still  existing  superiority  of  numbers. 
Yet  there  is  a  letter  to  show  that  he  was  still  on  the 
11th  November,  when  at  Smolensk,  thinking  of  taking 
his  winter  cantonments  on  the  Dnieper ;  although  having 
retreated  with  his  centre  without  fighting  he  knew  at  the 
same  time  that  one  of  his  flanks  had  been  overpowered, 
that  he  had  reason  to  believe  that  the  other  would  be  so 
likewise,  and  that  in  fact  he  would  find  not  only  that  he 
could  not  maintain  himself  within  the  country,  but  had 
not  the  power  of  retreating  from  it. 

Napoleon  having  arrived  at  Smolensk  on  the  9th 
November  and  remained  till  the  14th,  must  have  been 
aware  that  Kutusof  had  arrived  at  Jelnia.  A  brigade  of  a 
division  of  troops  under  General  Baraguay  d'Hilliers  had 
been  cut  off,  and  other  military  misfortunes  had  occurred 
in  that  direction,  which  must  have  proved  to  him  that  his 


APPENDIX  403 

adversary  was  in  force  on  the  roads  which  lead  from 
Kalouirha  to  Smolensk  and  all  the  towns  on  the  Dnieper. 

The  Rnssian  army  had  on  the  26th  of  October,  the  day 
on  which  Napoleon  finally  retreated  from  Malo-Jaroslavetz, 
likewise  made  a  retrograde  movement  and  took  up  another 
position  twenty  wersts  from  Malo-Jaroslavetz  and  nearer 
Kalougha,  at  Gonczarowo.  Davout  with  the  French  rear- 
guard evacuated  Malo-Jaroslavetz  in  the  night  of  the 
26th,  and  the  next  morning  the  retreat  of  the  French 
army  was  known  to  the  Russian  generals.  The  Russian 
army,  however,  did  not  move  till  the  27th  at  night,  and 
then  towards  Medyn.  But  Kutusof  did  not  at  once  take 
advantage  of  his  position  to  move  direct  upon  Viasma  or 
Smolensk;  hut  he  followed  the  direction  of  Napoleon's 
march,  although  it  was  obvious  that  the  head  of  the  French 
army,  being  at  Mojaisk  on  the  28th,  had  already  gained 
four  marches  upon  him. 

The  reason  for  moving  in  this  direction  was  that  it  was 
not  supposed  possible  in  the  Russian  army  that  Napoleon 
should  move  on  his  retreat  by  the  road  by  which  he  had 
advanced,  and  upon  Minsk.  The  movements  at  that 
time  in  the  course  of  execution  by  the  Admiral 
Tchitchakof  on  the  Berezina  were  known  to  the  Russian 
generals ;  and  they  believed  that  Napoleon  would  prefer 
to  direct  his  march  by  Wolokowisk,  etc.,  towards 
Witepsk. 

It  was  only  at  Kremenskoe,  on  the  80th  of  October, 
that  the  true  line  of  the  French  retreat  was  known  in  the 
Russian  army.  Platof  was  then  ordered  to  follow  their 
rear  with  the  Cossacks  and  one  division.  ]\Iiloradowitch 
was  directed  upon  Gjatz,  and  Kutusof  himself  with  the 
main  body  moved  on  the  31st  towards  Viasma.  Napoleon 
was  at  Viasma  on  the  1st  of  November,  where  he  loft  Ney, 
and  marched  on  the  2nd  to  Sendewo. 

On  the  3rd  of  November  there  was  a  serious  affair 
between  the  French  troops  at  Viasma  and  Miloradowitch 


404      REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF    WELLINGTON 

in  which  the  French  sustained  considerable  loss.  After 
this  affair  Kutusof  directed  his  march  upon  Jelnia  with  a 
view  to  intercept  his  enemy  at  Krasnoi.  The  Russian 
army  arrived  at  Jelnia  on  the  8tli  of  November,  that  is  on 
the  day  before  that  on  which  Napoleon  reached  Smolensk. 
He  halted  there  the  9th,  on  which  day  his  detachment 
gained  the  success  above  mentioned  against  the  French 
division  commanded  by  General  Baraguay  d'Hilliers.  In 
the  meantime  Miloradowitch  and  Platof  were, — the  first 
marching  on  the  flank  of  the  French  corps  moving  on  the 
great  road  towards  Smolensk,  and  the  last  following  the 
French  army ;  and  both  doing  them  all  the  mischief  in 
their  power. 

Thus  then  on  the  arrival  of  Napoleon  at  Smolensk  his 
adversary,  notwithstanding  all  the  mistakes  and  false 
movements  he  had  made,  was  as  forward  as  he  was ;  while 
the  French  whole  column  was  harassed  and  distressed  by 
the  corps  of  Miloradowitch  on  their  flank,  and  their  rear- 
guard, which  since  the  affair  of  Viasma  on  the  3rd  of 
November  had  been  commanded  by  Ney,  was  pursued 
and  harassed  by  Platof. 

Under  these  circumstances  Napoleon  halted  at  Smolensk 
till  the  14th  November. 

If  he  had  remained  with  a  view  of  refreshing  the  ex- 
hausted troops,  or  of  collecting  his  columns  in  order  to 
march  en  masse,  and  to  be  able  to  oppose  his  whole  force 
to  the  force  of  the  enemy  in  case  they  should  endeavour 
to  avail  themselves  of  the  advantageous  position  which 
they  had  acquired,  either  to  attack  the  French  army  or  to 
intercept  its  march,  this  delay  would  not  have  been  sur- 
prising, as  the  Viceroy,  who  with  the  4th  Corps  had 
passed  by  Dukhowizina  from  Dorogobouje,  sustained 
great  loss  in  the  passage  of  the  Wop ;  and  the  4th  Corps 
did  not  arrive  at  Smolensk  till  the  13th  November.  The 
rear-guard  under  Ney  had  been  delayed  on  its  march  to 
protect  the  movement  of  the  Viceroy,  and  did  not  arrive 


APPENDIX  405 

till  the  15th.  But  the  improvement  of  the  mode  of  the 
retreat  was  not  the  object  of  this  halt  however  dangerous 
and  disastrous,  and  however  this  improvement  was  neces- 
sary, as  it  must  have  been  kno\^n  that  the  Russian  army 
had  been  at  Jelnia  since  the  (Sth  of  November.  The  French 
army  commenced  afresh,  on  the  14th,  its  retreat  from 
Smolensk  in  the  same  form  as  that  in  which  the  retreat 
had  been  made  up  to  that  point,  and  Ncy  with  the  rear- 
guard was  ordered  not  to  quit  Smolensk  till  the  Kith,  and 
he  did  not  in  fjict  march  till  the  17th.  On  the  14th 
Osterman  was  with  his  corps  near  Koritnia,  and  Milora- 
dowitch  close  to  Krasnoi ;  and  Kutusof  was  near  enough 
with  the  whole  Russian  army  to  support  liiiu. 

It  is  astonishing  then  that  the  French  army  should 
have  suffered  the  military  disasters,  described  nearly  in 
the  same  words  in  all  these  works,  which  it  did  suffer  on 
its  march  from  Smolensk  to  Orcha.  These  disasters  were 
short  only  of  total  destruction ;  which  must  have  been 
the  fate  of  the  army  on  this  ground  if  the  Russian  generals 
could  have  known  the  state  to  which  their  enemy  was 
reduced,  and  Kutusof  had  been  a  little  more  active.  But 
a  close  examination  of  the  movements  of  these  armies  will 
show  how  little  of  the  internal  state  of  one  hostile  army  is 
known  to  the  other;  and  it  is  not  astonishing  that 
Kutusof,  being  aware  of  the  numerical  inferiority  of  his 
own  force  to  that  of  his  adversary  when  the  retreat  com- 
menced, and  of  his  own  losses  in  the  pursuit,  should  not 
have  believed  that  the  Guard  and  those  troops  which  had 
been  the  terror  of  the  world  were  so  reduced  in  numbers, 
in  discipline,  and  efficiency,  as  to  be  unequal  to  defend 
themselves  against  the  reduced  numbers  which  he  could 
bring  upon  them.  He  was  aware  of  what  was  passing 
upon  the  Berezina  and  Orcha,  and  he  had  reason  to 
expect  that  the  armies  under  Tchitchakof  and  Wittgen- 
stein, and  fresh  and  increased  natural  difficulties,  would 
to  a  certainty  accomplish  that  destruction  of  which  the 


406      REMINISCENCES    OF   DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

commencement  had  in  a  short  time  been  so  well  effected 
by  the  troops  under  his  command. 

Each  of  the  corps  marching  from  Smolensk,  excepting 
the  Guard,  was  obliged  to  quit  the  high  road  and  to 
abandon  every  equipment  it  possessed.  Ney's  corps  not 
only  quitted  the  high-road,  but  crossed  the  Dnieper  on 
the  ice,  to  march  along  the  right  bank  of  that  river ;  and 
every  wheeled  carriage,  and  every  horse,  and  every 
creature  unable  to  make  the  greatest  exertion  for  his 
safety,  was  left  behind  and  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy. 

It  will  have  been  seen  that  Napoleon  delayed  from  the 
9  th  till  the  14  th  at  Smolensk.  He  did  not  arrive  at  Orcha 
till  the  19th  on  account  of  the  necessity  under  which 
he  found  himself  of  waiting  again  at  Krasnoi  for  the 
troops  in  his  rear,  both  to  save  them  and  himself  and  his 
Guard. 

He  heard  at  Dombrowna  on  the  18th  that  Minsk  had 
been  on  the  16th  taken  by  Admiral  Tchitchakof,  and 
although  he  immediately  saw  all  the  consequences  to  the 
future  safety  of  his  arm}-,  he  still  hoped  he  might  be  in 
time  to  cross  the  Berezina  at  Borisof. 

Ney  did  not  arrive  at  Orcha  by  the  right  of  Dnieper  till 
the  21st,  at  midnight,  with  the  remains  of  his  corps ;  but 
Napoleon  had  left  Orcha  in  the  night  of  the  20th,  having 
waited  there  one  day  in  hopes  of  Ney's  junction.  The 
retreat  was  still  continued  in  the  same  form,  notwith- 
standing the  military  disasters  and  loss  of  time  which  had 
resulted  from  the  use  of  it.  Napoleon  heard  at  Toloczin, 
on  the  22nd,  of  the  loss  of  Borisof;  and  that  Oudinot  had 
immediately  determined  to  attack  the  Russian  advanced 
guard,  which  had  been  under  General  Lambert,  but  which 
was  commanded  by  General  Pahlcn  since  Lambert  had 
been  wounded  in  the  attack  of  Borisof.  The  Russians 
had,  however,  destroyed  the  bridge  on  their  side  of  the 
river,  and  Oudinot  found  the  localities  were  of  that  descrip- 


APPENDIX  407 

tion  that  it  was  impossible  to  attempt  to  pass  the  river  at 
that  point. 

Napoleon  was  then  in  this  situation  on  the  24th  Novem- 
ber, in  the  morning.  His  army,  which  had  been  to 
Moscow,  on  its  march  between  the  Dnieper  and  the 
Berezina  in  one  column,  of  which  the  head  was  three 
marches  in  front  of  the  rear-guard ;  and  the  rear-guard 
was  quitting  Orcha  upon  the  Dnieper. 

The  grand  Russian  army  under  Kutusof  was  upon  the 
Dnieper,  Miloradowitch  with  the  advanced  guard  had 
crossed  that  river,  and  threatened  the  rear  and  left  of  the 
French  army. 

The  Berezina  was  in  his  front  and  must  be  crossed. 
This  river  is  difficult  to  cross  at  all  times.  There  are  but 
few  places  of  access  to  it.  There  are  marshes  upon  both 
banks,  which  as  well  as  the  river  itself  must  be  passed  by 
roads  on  Avhich  there  are  bridges;  and  both  might  be 
destroyed  with  the  utmost  facility. 

The  Berezina  was  occupied  by  the  army  of  Tchitchakof 
from  Bobruisk  to  Zembin. 

It  has  been  seen  that  Napoleon  had  been  obliged  to 
withdraAv  Oudinot  from  the  body  of  troops  opposed  to 
Wittgenstein  on  the  Orcha ;  and  that  Oudinot  had  already 
cleared  his  road  for  him  to  the  Berezina.  But  the  con- 
sequence was  that  Victor  was  no  longer  in  strength  to 
hold  his  ground  opposite  to  Wittgenstein.  Victor  was 
obliged  to  follow  Oudinot's  march  with  the  Oth  Corps. 
Victor  was  within  a  march  on  the  24th  of  the  road  on 
which  the  main  French  column  was  marching ;  and  Witt- 
crenstein  attacked  his  rear-jjuard.  The  ri2:ht  of  the  French 
army  on  its  retreat,  as  well  as  its  front,  rear  and  loft,  was 
exposed  to  the  enterprises  of  a  superior  enemy's  army. 

Oudinot  had  been  directed  to  discover  a  place  for  the 
passage  of  the  army  over  the  Berezina ;  and  he  by  accitlent 
and  fortunately  discovered  that  there  was  a  passage  near 
the  villaere  of  Studianka. 


408       REMINISCENCES    OF    DUKE    OF   WELLINGTON 

He  moved  there  on  the  25th  from  Borisof;  and  im- 
mediately commenced  the  construction  of  the  bridges  for 
the  passage  of  the  army  at  that  place.  When  Oudinot 
arrived  at  Studianka  there  was  still  a  Kiissian  corps  under 
General  Tchaplitz  posted  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the 
Berezina.  But  this  corps  had  been  ordered  to  move  upon 
Borisof,  as  the  movements,  dispositions,  and  demonstra- 
tions of  the  French  had  indicated  an  intention  of  passing 
between  Borisof  and  Bobruisk,  and  even  at  Borisof  rather 
than  above  that  town. 

The  admiral,  therefore,  had  been  led  into  error.  But 
General  Tchaplitz,  from  what  he  had  seen  on  the  25th, 
left  a  regiment  of  infantry  and  twelve  pieces  of  cannon  in 
a  position  opposite  Studianka. 

On  the  25th,  Wittgenstem  moved  upon  Baran  within 

^  wersts  of  Studianka.  On  the  26th  Napoleon  arrived 
with  the  Guard  at  Studianka.  Oudinot  crossed  the  Bere- 
zina upon  the  bridges;  took  possession  of  Zembin  and 
drove  away  the  Russian  troops  as  far  as  Stachova.  On 
the  27th  all  the  troops  crossed  the  river  as  fast  as  they 
arrived  at  Studianka.  Victor  had  been  the  rear-guard  at 
Borisof,  and  one  division  of  his  corps  remained  as  rear- 
guard at  Studianka;  while  another,  that  of  Partonneau, 
followed  the  march  of  the  army  and  left  Borisof  on  the 
27th  at  night.  This  division  was,  hoAvever,  taken  by 
Wittgenstein. 

At  length,  on  the  28th,  the  Russians  ascertained  where 
the  French  were  crossing  the  Berezina.  Tchitchakof 
attacked  them  on  the  right  of  that  river,  while  Wittgen- 
stein attacked  Victor  on  the  left  bank  at  Studianka.  Both 
Avere  repulsed,  but  with  immense  loss  to  the  French.  On 
the  28th,  at  night,  Victor  crossed  the  Berezina ;  and  on 
the  29th,  in  the  morning,  the  bridges  were  destroyed ;  and 
the  French  army  continued  its  march  upon  Zembin  to- 
wards Wilna.     From  this  time  there  was  nothing  in  their 

^  Blank  in  manuscript. 


APPENDIX  409 

front  to  impede  their  movements.  They  were  followed, 
harassed,  etc.,  by  Cossacks,  etc.,  but  there  was  no  body  of 
Russian  troops  which  could  venture  to  stand  between 
the  army  and  Loison's  and  Pino's  Italian  division,  which 
were  still  in  reserve  at  Wilna. 

Wellington. 


THE    EXD. 


PRINTED  BY  WILLIAM  BLACKWOOD  AND  SONS. 


t 


^       i^i^yMv 


DATE  DUE                                 1 



■ 

HIGHSMITH    45-  102 


MINTED   IN    USA 


oh'.  12    H4(JbJ4 
leiq,    Georae    Robert,     1  /  ^o- 

1  888  . 

?rsonal    reminiscences    of 

-,he    first    duke    of 


AA       001377  977 


3  1210  00493  9581 


